High School DxD: The Elder Gods
by Purple Karma
Summary: Azathoth has made the call. And now his Champion will answer. Contains Prototype, Dishonored, Skyrim, and other elements.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Forged by Madness **

_Religion had always been one of the basic concepts of humanity. Every day, people would pray to the gods and goddesses high above for their most heart-desired wishes. Whether it was peace, prosperity, fame, or fortune, it didn't matter. Every day they would pray in hopes that the high beings above would answer to their pleas for help and guidance, but not every prayer was always answered. _

_Christianity, Judaism Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, and so on. Each and every one of these religions had their own versions of gods and or goddesses, and biblical/mythological creatures that were both good and evil. The beings that were mostly and widely known throughout various religions were the Three Factions, or most commonly known as the Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels. _

_Long ago during the olden times of mankind, the Three Factions were waged into a long and brutal civil war with each other that lasted for over three centuries. Thousands of Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels alike were slain in the bloody, gruesome war, including the God of the Bible and the Four Great Satans, but in the end, it was the Devils who had gotten hit the hardest. Sick, beaten, crippled, and tired of all the fighting and pointless deaths the war had caused, the three factions had decided to end the war and try to remain as neutral as they could, though sadly, smaller battles between the factions had still been fought. _

_Even with the after effects of the Great War, the Three Factions were still able to remain in their neutral boundaries while only a few squabbles between renegade soldier happened every once in a while. Through time and effort, the Angels and the Devils were able to rebuild most of their forces while also retaining their leadership. Everything had gone back to the way it was before the Great War. The humans still worshipped their gods, the said deities would answer their prayers, and the Three Factions had been able to live in somewhat harmony with each other. It seemed like all would be normal as usual. _

_But what if there were other gods and creatures far beyond the reaches of the solar system that even the gods of earth weren't even aware of?_

* * *

Screams of pain and agony echoed throughout a hospital hallway and various doctors and nurses quickly rushed through carrying bags of fresh blood and syringes filled with morphine. The screams growing louder and louder the further they ran until they reached a door at the end of the hallway and quickly opened it revealing a woman with long, brown hair on a hospital bed hooked up to the nearby machines by her bedside. She was currently sweating and panting heavily with tears of pain in her eyes as she tightly clutched the hand of man with short, spiked brown hair wearing glasses, who was doing his best to comfort the woman while at the same time trying to ignore the pain in his hand.

The doctors and nurses sprinted inside as they replaced the old blood bags with the fresh new ones on the rack that was near the woman's bed with a tube that was connected to a needle going into the woman's wrist. One of the doctors quickly ran over to the side of the bed and checked the heart monitor and sighed as it continued bleeping at a steady pace. He then went over the end of the bed where the nurses rolled over a small cart, which he happily thanked them for before turning over to the woman.

"You're doing great Mrs. Hyoudou. We just need you to take a few deep breaths before pushing. We know you're in a lot of pain but the sooner we get this done the better."

The woman gave a slight, teary nod before taking some deep breathes before putting force into her torso. The inside of her oversized stomach felt like it was on fire as she tried to bite her lip through the labor pains. Her husband, although also still in pain from his wife's sharp grip on his hand, continued to gently rub her back with his other hand while whispering words of encouragement into his wife's ear.

"You're doing excellent honey. Please, just a little harder and you can finally have all the rest you deserve. Just think of how happy we'll be when this is done. We're finally going to have a real family."

The wife could only give another silent nod as she continued pushing and pushing. Each and every time felt like shards of glass were leaving her body only to make room for more. But even through all the pain she was experiencing, the mere thought of her future family seemed to make it less painful. Finally, after months of continuous nausea and mood swings, they were finally going to have their first baby and become a real family. She could hardly contain her tears of joy when she found out she was pregnant. After burning through most of their savings in order to buy toys, clothes and even furniture for the baby's new room, all that was left was the long, nine-month wait and all the side effects that came with it.

A sudden jolt in her abdomen quickly shut down any remaining thoughts she had in her head before she let out another agonizing scream. Tightening her hold on her husband's hand, she grumbled in pain as her contractions became worse and worse as she tried her best to try to fight through the pain. The nurses continued working the machines while keeping the bags of blood and morphine in check. The doctor put on a pair of rubber gloves before looking back at the woman.

"Alright, we're almost done here. The baby's almost out. All I need you to do is give one last, hard push Mrs. Hyoudou then you're done."

Through tears of pain, the woman gave one more firm nod before taking a couple more deep breathes and, with all the strength she had left, unleashed all of the pressure within her body towards her abdomen.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs as she pushed with all her might. Her entire stomach felt like it was on fire as she continued to push. Her screams were so loud they echoed all the way out the door and through the entire hallway.

"That's it… almost there…. Keep going, and… here it is!" yelled the doctor in a joyful tone.

Finally, after what seemed like years of torture, the woman gave out a long sigh of absolute relief as the pain slowly subsided and she felt a sudden weight being lifted from her body. Through exhausted, half-lifted eyes, the woman was able to see the doctor walking over to a nearby sink with something in his arms. She heard the water run for a few moments before it shut off and saw the doctor approaching her bedside with a small bundle of blankets in his arms. He gave her and her husband a joyful smile before bringing the bundle down closer to her side, revealing the small, pale face of a sleeping baby wrapped comfortably in the blankets.

"Congratulations Mrs. Hyoudou" he said gently. "You've given birth to healthy, baby boy."

With tears in her eyes, the woman shakily brought her arms up and carefully took the baby within her own hold. She brought it close to her chest and gently rubbed its soft cheek with her hand while smiling down at it lovingly. Her tears of joy became more pronounced as she noticed the baby had the same shade of brown hair that her and her husband shared.

She was so focused on the baby that she hadn't noticed her husband kneeling next to her side and gently laying his hand on her shoulder while also staring lovingly at the baby with a smile on his face.

"He's beautiful. Just like his mother. You did wonderful tonight honey. Thank you so much."

"He certainly is our little gift from above, isn't he?" Mrs. Hyoudou asked in a quiet, fatigued voice as she spoke for the first time. Her husband gave her a nod before they both continued to watch their sleeping son with smiles on their faces. Nothing could have ruined this moment as both parents stared at their first child with all the love in the world.

With a sudden though in his head, Mr. Hyoudou looked back at his wife with a questioning look.

"What are we going to name him?" he asked her with curiosity.

Mrs. Hyoudou gazed back at her husband with semi-wide eyes, surprised at the sudden question before looking outside the nearby window with a contemplating look on her face. She stayed like this for a moment before widening her eyes and looking back at her husband with a smile on her face.

"Issei" she said before looking back down at her son and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "We'll call him Issei."

* * *

_**Four hours later**_

It was a dark and rainy night over the city of Tokyo, Japan as the millions of tiny water droplets fell from the dark clouds above and down unto the streets and buildings below. The city's building light were still alight though barely any cars roamed in its streets, due to it being about two o' clock in the morning. The wind was lightly blowing lazily within the sky and the occasional chirping of birds could be heard in the distance.

In the dark, cloud-filled sky that loomed over a large forest near the outskirts of the city, a small light suddenly made itself known throughout the large sea of clouds as it continued to grow larger and larger with each passing minute until broke through the clouds and descended towards the forest with a great speed and a trail of fire blazing behind it. Within a moment, it disappeared completely within the tree line and the sound of a _'CRASH'_ could be heard echoing throughout the entire forest.

* * *

_**Near the crash site**_

A small crater could be seen torn into the ground as various cracks and patches of dirt and mud surrounded the hole within a five foot perimeter. Within the crater was what looked like a dark grey rock halfway penetrated within the earth about the size of a beach ball with numerous small holes covering its surface. A small trail of smoke could also be seen emanating from the rock's surface as well from the holes as it blew lazily in the wind.

Suddenly a large crack formed all the way across the rock's surface as it slowly began open up. More steam erupted from the inside as the rock split wider in half. When it was completely open, a small silhouette slowly began to float out of the rock until it was about two feet in the air before floating forward and into the moonlight.

The silhouette was revealed be to what was quite possibly the strangest, yet creepiest, creature to ever thought to exist. Its small body was completely black while some parts of it were a lighter shade of brown. Its small head was a complete blob of boneless black flesh that had nothing but two, small slitted eyes that were about an inch long. Emanating from its nonexistent chin area were five, small ugly green tentacles hanging lifelessly from under its head. The rest of its small body was literally nothing but an entire torso of pitch black fur with no arms emanating from either side of the fur. Below its furred body, right where the legs should be, was instead more ugly green tentacles that were slowly moving and waving in the air as the creature floated in its place.

The creature closed its miniature eyes and just stood there floating in mid-air for a few moments as if in deep concentration before it opened its eyes back up and the tentacles beneath its head began moving in fast, wave-like motions. It gave off a light gurgling noise from its nonexistent mouth before quickly floated forward and disappeared within the trees.

* * *

_**Near the outskirts of Tokyo**_

The creature emerged from the nearby forest trees and saw that it was near a large, white building that was about three stories tall. As it stealthily moved near the tree line while trying to search for a way inside, it was soon able to spot a second story window that was slightly open. It quickly ascended its height a moved towards the window where it used one of its tentacles to slowly open it wide enough for it to squeeze through without making a hint of noise.

Once it was inside, the creature noticed that it was in a fairly large room with all-walls along with some counters and machines that were near a bed and hooked up to woman with long, brown hair who looked to be in a deep sleep. The creature's main focus however, was on a small crib that was on the opposite side of the woman's bed near the wall. It floated over and looked down into the crib where a male baby wrapped in blankets was also sleeping peacefully. The creature simply starred at the small infant for a few moments until it lowered one of its tentacles down on the child's head and gave it a gentle rub.

This small action caused the sleeping child to stir a bit before it opened its eyes, revealing to be a deep brown color. The child scanned its surroundings before his eyes settled on the creature that was floating right beside him with its tentacle hanging over his head. Instead of crying and screaming in a fit of fear or sadness, the child simply stared at the creature's tentacle with wide and curious eyes before making a small gurgling sound and retrieving his tiny arms from inside the blankets and reaching up and grabbing the tentacle with his tiny hands.

The creature stared in fascination as the infant grabbed its tentacle with its tiny, dry hands. It had never come into contact with any other beings besides its own kind, but the creature found that it wasn't as disgusting as it thought it would be. Sadly, it had no time to interact with the little human any longer.

Its master had sent it to this planet for a reason. And it just so happened that this little child was that particular reason.

The creature slowly withdrew its tentacle from the infant's hands, which caused the little boy pout his upper lip in up sadness. Acting quickly before it was discovered, the creature brought up its tentacle and closed its eyes in deep concentration before the tip of the tentacle suddenly began to morph into the shape of a tiny needle. It then opened its eyes and looked back down at the infant, who had tears in his eyes and looked to be on the verge of crying. But before he could whimper a single sound, the creature reared back its tentacle…

…and plunged the entire needle straight into the baby's forehead, causing his entire body to stiffen and his eyes to freeze wide open.

* * *

_**Somewhere far, far away in the deep, reaches of Space**_

Over a billion light years away from the Solar System was a galaxy filled with nothing but darkness. It had very little to no light from any of the stars that dwelled within the galaxy because each star was either a giant, black sphere filled with fire that blended into the darkness or they were simply nothing but debris floating endlessly in the infinite vacuum. If you were lucky, you might have been able to see one or two suns that even then, brought very little light. Each and every planet that resided within this galaxy held nothing but untold, undiscovered mysteries and horrors that didn't exist to humanity or any other beings in the universe. Within each planet resided a civilization of unimaginable creatures that existed outside of human reality and would turn even the strongest of minds completely insane by a simple glance.

In fact, this entire galaxy existed so far out of reality that not even the strongest gods and goddesses of earth even knew it existed.

Held within the very center of this galaxy was a massive creature so large that it was bigger than any planets or stars that were thought to exist. It was so large that it was even half the size of the galaxy itself. Its appearance, however, was something that not even the wildest of imaginations could conjure up. It was possibly more terrifying than any nightmare that has ever existed. If one ever saw it and wasn't driven insane, they would've said that it didn't resemble just one being, but perhaps over a million beings mixed together into one giant monster.

Every inch of the being's body was covered with long, large sickly green tentacles that flew and swiped in every direction. The tips of some of the tentacles held large, salivated jaws filled with rows of razor sharp teeth, while others had deep, slitted eyeballs that were the size of planets, doing nothing but blinked their colossal sized lids while occasional looking off in a random direction along with large, razor-sharp claws that could slice a planet in half. Other sections of the being's body were also filled with large jaws and eyeballs, as well as planets-sized, pulsating postules that would throb around and occasionally pop, releasing ocean-sized amounts of a strange black liquid into the vacuum.

The great beast floated aimlessly in the eternal black void of space, its many mouths silently opening and closing while its colossal tentacles waved together in sync as it waited for one of its servants to complete its task. Just a while ago he had transported him over a billion light years away to the long and distant blue planet known as Earth that was located within the Milky Way Galaxy in order for him to find a particular human that had just been born. The beast didn't know why, but for some reason, this particular human had intrigued him. He had watched through an intergalactic portal as the child was born into the world from his mother's womb, and already the beast could sense large potential within the boy that could be proven useful in the future.

The beast's movements suddenly halted in place as its tentacles stopped swaying and every single one of its jaws closed shut as it felt a slight tug deep within its subconscious. It seems that his servant had been successful in his mission and was attempting to contact him.

With a small pull, the beast opened up its link to his servants own subconscious before a high pitched, crusty voice spoke.

"_**Mah'kn, Ya hyuop argh'k li goff' ta ciugd'n"**_ _**(Master, I have found the child as you commanded). **_Spoke the servant from earth in an unknown and contorted language with respect in its voice.

"_**E'gyili Xul, Ya tut ak'um efferm de prypun?" (Excellent Xul, I trust everything is prepared?).**_ The beast asked in a voice that boomed deeper than thunder.

"_**Ye't Mah'kn, li ergy sa'id ha be'n imsid writ li goff's bir'n. Ta mik bihn' wuhn ra'dy" (Yes Master, the energy seed has been implanted within the child's brain. You may begin when ready). **_The newly named Xul confirmed.

"_**Vyu wol" (Very well). **_The beast replied.

Suddenly a large, pitch black and dark green aura manifested itself around the beast's entire, colossal-sized body before it shot off with tremendous speeds in a random direction, leaving a large trial before it followed soon after.

"_**Sa de d'ne. Pryp'ron ta'sul fon we'n ki com'a Xul" (It is done. Prepare yourself for when it comes Xul). **_The beast spoke after a deep sigh.

"_**Fuhmon mu Mah'kn, bt' Ya im wru'd. Weh aout li godd'a ah li sip'rnontra'l kutre's fo lis plea'na? Thi wul sru'yl sin'k tar pwer'mal ar'a we'n sa arrike's et wul tir ot tick li goff' fon thumels" (Forgive me Master, but I am worried. What about the gods and supernatural creatures of this planet? They will surely sense your powerful aura when it arrives and will try to take the child for themselves). **_Xul told his master with a bit of worry and fear in his voice. Worry going out for the child, but fear of being killed for showing such weakness in front of his master.

Though you couldn't see it, the beast twitched its many mouths and eyes into that of a large scoff. It had already known about the many gods and goddesses that inherited the earth's many religions, along with the so called "Great" War that was waged between the three factions. Compared to him, the gods and goddesses were nothing more than the earth's flies for him to sway at. Even if they combined of their powers together, it still would be nowhere near a fraction of his own power. And the civil war on the planet Xoth would have made the war between the Angels, Fallen Angels, and Devils look like nothing more than a mere slap on the tentacle. It was pathetic really, to know that these supernatural creatures would have the gull to even call it a war in the first place.

But the beast had no time to squander over such things. Many things were coming to the planet Earth in the future, and that child was the only one who would be able to stop them. Oh yes, the gods, goddesses, and supernatural creatures of Earth will try to get their hands on the child, even try to recruit him into their armies to fight for them. But once the beast's aura reached Earth and implanted itself into the child's body, he would definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the future. But who he decided to join and kill would be all up to him.

"_**D'nt wirhy Xul. On'k li goff' rekives mon piw'r, thi'se pitnon kutre's wint dar ot apriche hi'm ontil li tum de rikt" (Don't worry Xul. Once the child receives my power, those pitiful creatures wouldn't dare to approach him until the time is right). **_The beast boomed with a touch of confidence.

"_**Oh kell Mah'kn. Fuhmon mu fon mon mulin fo win'kin. Ya wul run'in we'n li ergy de finis bin'on transa" (Of coarse Master. Forgive me for my moment of weakness. I will return when the energy is finished being transferred).**_ And with that, the link to Xul's subconscious was cut.

The beast, also known as Azathoth, the Nuclear Chaos, Daemon Sultan, and the Blind Idiot God once again began to float aimlessly in the infinite black void within the middle of his own galaxy as he contemplated in his own deep, dark thoughts. It was only moments until his powerful aura finally reached Earth and implanted itself within the boy's body. Only moments until his entire life changed forever. But for good or for worse he didn't know. Once the boy gained his power, it would be up to him to him to carve his own path in the future. If he wanted to save his entire planet from the things that have still yet to come, then this had to be done. It's not that Azathoth actually cared whether the boy saved the planet or not. He literally couldn't have cared less if the entire planet ended up being destroyed. He was simply doing this out of boredom and expected to be entertained either way.

He just hoped that he chose wisely.

* * *

_**Within the Solar System **_

A colossal-sized trail of black and green colored aura sped past each planet of the Solar System with unbelievable speeds as it made its way towards its destination. The farther it traveled, the more powerful and faster it became as it sucked up the surrounding energy from space itself.

As soon as the blue planet came into view, the massive aura glowed a bright green for a moment before shooting off at an even greater speed towards its beacon located in a large island country with the blue ocean. The aura suddenly began to shrink t a miniature size as soon as it came into contact with the planet's atmosphere, where it was gradually sucked in and disappeared into the country.

And for the briefest of moments, the entire planet shook.

* * *

_**Underworld**_

Deep within the Underworld that was also the birthplace of the Devil faction, a young man within his early twenties bolted upright in his bed now fully awake and with a look of complete shock on his face. He was a handsome man with long hair that was the same shade of blood and reached all the way to the way down to the middle of his back along with bright eyes that were as green as emeralds. He was struggling to breathe as sweat rolled down his forehead as well as his back after sensing the enormous power fluctuation with large amount of pressure that rippled throughout the entire Underworld, along with the human world above.

"Lord Sirzechs, do you sense it as well?" asked a soft, feminine voice from right beside him. He looked over to his left and saw his wife giving him a knowing yet worried look. She was around his age with long, silver-white hair that she usually kept tied into ponytails, except for now it was untied and reached all the way down her back. Her dark, brown eyes held signs of worry as well as fear.

The newly named Sirzechs, also known as Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the Four Great Satans as well as respected leader of the Devils, took a couple of deep breathes to compose himself before looking back over to his wife and laying a hand on her pale shoulder while giving her a reassuring smile.

"Yes Grayfia, I did. And it was enormous. Far greater than anything I have ever felt before. Greater than an Ultimate-Class Devil and even a Great Satan. It felt like it was on par with the Ouroboros Dragon's energy, maybe even greater."

The now appointed Grayfia, stared at her husband with widened eyes and her mouth slightly agape as she listened to her husbands claim. "I'm sorry my lord, but greater than the _Ouroboros Dragon's?_ You're talking about the Infinite Dragon God, who's supposed to be the most powerful being in existence. The only other being that could even match up to it would be the Apocalypse Dragon. And we both know that the energy surge we felt just now couldn't have come from it either."

Sirzechs gave out a long sigh before running a hand through his hair. "I honestly don't know either Grayfia. It's just an assumption, but whatever it is, it's definitely not from this world, or even the Dimensional Gap for that matter. It felt as though it were from somewhere completely non-existent. It felt heavy, dark, unfamiliar, and…monstrous. We should definitely keep an eye on wherever this power is coming from, and make sure it doesn't become a problem in the future."

Grayfia's eyes seemed to soften as she listened to her husband's statement but still held a tint of fear in them. Wherever that power came from had worried her greatly. It did indeed feel dark and monstrous but it also didn't feel entirely evil. And who or whatever contained that power would definitely need to be watched on in the future.

"Very well my lord. But let us return to bed some can deal with this strange anomaly in the morning." She said softly before laying back down and returning to her sleep.

Sirsechs looked at his now sleeping wife for a few moments before taking another deep sigh and laying his head back down on the pillow while staring up into the ceiling. That power fluctuation was indeed enormous. So enormous that he had no doubt the other factions, as well as the Ouroboros and Apocalypse Dragon had all felt it as well. He just hoped that this wouldn't lead to another conflict.

He quickly shook his head of the thoughts as soon as they entered his mind. He was the Crimson Satan. He couldn't afford to show any sort of weakness, especially to something as little as a power surge. Sure it may have been large, but he was sure that it wouldn't cause any harm in the future. Although he was still genuinely curious as to where it came from, and he was sure he would find out soon enough.

_Who or what possesses that power?_ Was his final thought before he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep along with his wife.

* * *

_**In an abandoned warehouse**_

Just as the Crimson Satan had stated, the enormous power surge had been sensed throughout the entire world by many of the supernatural beings.

Currently, another man who appeared to be in his early thirties was sitting at a table within a warehouse with his chin in his hand as he held a contemplating look on his face. He had short, black hair with a mix of gold bangs that covered his forehead, along with a small beard that was on his chin. He was wearing a long, purple v-neck trench coat along with black pants and brown dress shoes.

Azazel, also known as the former Governor General of the Fallen Angels and Grigori organization, silently hummed to himself as he got lost within his thoughts. Like the others, he too had sensed the massive power surge that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and shook the entire ground he walked on. Even with his normally calm and carefree attitude, he couldn't help but feel momentarily shell shocked at the amount of energy that was enough to shake the entire world. He would've easily mistaken it for the Dragon God if it wasn't for the dark and otherworldly aura that the fluctuation had around it.

He honestly didn't know what to make of it. Yes, he was incredibly smart when it came to these sort of things, but this forerunner feeling that that aura gave off had left him absolutely clueless. Yet it had also made him feel extremely eager even though he didn't show it.

_Hmm. I should inform Raynare, Kalawarner, Dohnaseek, and Mittelt to keep an eye on this in the future. I wonder who in the world has such a power anyway._ Azazel thought to himself as he continued to maul over the situation.

* * *

_**Heaven **_

Even when the Earth was in its time of night, the eternal plain of Heaven was still alight with its everlasting beauty and full glory. The birthplace of the Angels however, was currently in a state of panic as many of the Angels were quickly flying towards the safety of their homes.

Within a large throne-room, located in a nearby castle was a single Angel that was looking out of the balcony and up to the sky. Like the other two, this one also appeared to be a male who had long, golden hair that flowed down to his upper back. He wore large, white Angelic robes with a large red cross printed on the front. His usual sad-looking, bright green eyes were now fully wide with awe and shock. He too, along with the other two faction leaders had also felt the immense power that sweeped through the entire Earth as well as the Underworld and the Plain of Heaven. It was so large that it was somehow able to shake the entire ground of all three locations. It was something he had never felt before, and didn't think he'd ever forget either.

"So I take it you sensed it as well Michael?" asked another male voice and the newly named Michael, leader of the Angels and the Kingdom of Heaven, looked behind him to see a male Angel with long, brown hair that also reached the top of his back wearing brown and white Angelic robes with twelve golden wings coming out of his back. He also appeared to be wielding a long, golden staff with a single feather hanging from the top.

Raphael, also known as the Holy Healer, one of the Seven Archangels of Heaven, as well as lifetime friend of Michael had a troubled look on his face as he walked up and stood next to Michael and also looking up into the sky. "You're not the only one. Every Angel in Heaven, and I'm assuming the Fallen Angels of Earth along with the Devils of the Underworld have also sensed it. So strange…it's feels not of this world, but also dark and a little menacing. This could be problem."

Michael was momentarily surprised at his friend's hypothesis before adding in his own opinion. "While I do agree that this aura has a dark feeling towards it, it is also not entirely evil. Almost on the borderline of neutral. Yet it's still very large." He concluded with his soft and gentle voice.

"Indeed. No doubt that anyone with that amount of power must be dangerous." Said yet another male voice as both Angels turned around and saw an Angel with light, brown hair tied into a braid around his head. He was also wearing a white, Angelic robe that was covered by another that was deep red. He had twelve golden wings jutting out from his back while he carried a book with a gold cross on the cover.

"Uriel" said Raphael in his deep voice as he sent a nod towards the now named Uriel. Said Angel of Light, also one of the Seven Archangels of Heaven, sent him a nod in return before walking forward and joined the other two on the balcony. "So, what do you two make of this mysterious energy?" he asked in calm, gentle voice.

"So far we have deduced that it is not of this world, but from somewhere else entirely" said Michael. "Which is strange because there aren't any beings that I know of who have energy this large except for the Infinite Dragon God and the Apocalypse Dragon. And we all know that their energies don't feel anything like this."

"Yes, you're right" agreed Uriel. "The Dragon God's energy is too empty and hollow while the Apocalypse Dragon's is too wild and unstable. This on the other hand has more of a darker, yet maddening feel to it" he said as he looked up into the sky with his own questioning glance.

"We should watch for the source of this energy and make sure it doesn't cause us any trouble" suggested Raphael. "We're still trying to recuperate all of our forces from the Great War, and the Almighty knows we don't need any more problems than we already have."

"Perhaps you both are correct" spoke Michael as he turned to face the two. "But for now we have to put this matter on hold. Like Raphael said, we're still trying to recover our forces from the Great War. And with the God of the Bible gone, we are at a disadvantage. And to ensure that any peace will come with the other two factions, we'll need all the strength we can get. So for now, let's put this matter aside and save it for another time."

With that, the three Angels bid each other farewell before going their separate ways. Michael, deciding to stay on the balcony for a while longer, simply continued to stare up into Heaven's shining sky. All while thinking of the future events to come, as well as the mysterious aura.

* * *

_**Thirty minutes earlier, back within the Hospital room**_

Xul gave off a small, satisfying gargling sound as the last of his Master's energy was transferred into the child's body. During the entire transfer, the child had simply laid absolutely still within his crib with his eyes frozen wide open. Xul had also noticed that the child's body had gone through some minor changes while the energy was being injected into him. His skin had become a little paler while his hair had grown a darker shade of brown. So brown that it almost looked black. The most noticeable change, however, was his eyes. What used to be innocent looking, doe-brown eyes were now a pair of dark green orbs with a mix of purple that shined like glass. As soon as he removed the needle from the infants head and the energy had been fully injected, the baby closed its eyes and had fallen asleep also instantaneously. As if the whole thong had never happened.

So now here was Xul, still standing over the baby's crib, gently rubbing his forehead with his tentacle. Even though he had only been with him for an hour, Xul had sort of grown attached to the little human. He had never met another race of beings except for his own and a few others that were like him, so it had been an interesting experience to be able to interact with another species that was completely foreign to him.

With a small gargle that represented a sigh, Xul rubbed the boy's head one more time before retracting his tentacle and floating away from the crib.

"_**Ya hi'te tar roun'k goff'. Lop wul nok bi eici, bof w'olu tihk piw'r, ta wim bu sting'la tahn oni if li godd'a et kutre's oof tis plea'na. Fernul goff', Ya hi'te wi mot agsul." (I hope you're ready child. Life will not be easy, but with this power, you will be stronger than any of the gods and creatures of this planet. Farewell child, I hope we meet again). **_And with those last few words in his unknown language, Xul was surrounded in a small, black aura before he disappeared from sight, leaving the newly transformed baby to sleep alongside his mother for the rest of the cold, rainy night.

* * *

**Authors Note: And here's chapter one for my new story on one of my other favorite anime! The Elder Gods of a forgotten mythology have just been introduced to the DxD universe and have chosen Issei to wield their power! How will the three factions, as well as some of earth's gods handle the power of the unknown gods? Stick around and find out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own High School DxD, any of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos characters, or anything else. The only things I own are my own characters. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Hidden Knowledge **

_**Ten years later**_

"Hey guys! Look at the freak!" laughed a tall boy as he punched another boy in the face, who fell to the ground with a large bruise on the side of his head.

Said other boy simply rubbed his head before trying to stand, until he was kicked in the stomach by another kid, who grinned and looked smugly down at him.

"Yeah, look at him! He can't even fight back! He's weak!" the other boy yelled as he kicked the injured kid in the stomach once again.

Ten year-old Issei Hyoudou didn't even make an attempt to block the bullies' strikes as he just laid on the ground and continued to let himself get beaten with no emotion etched into his face. His dark, purple-green eyes bared no traces of tears or pain as the older boys continued to kick his stomach and stomp on his limp and bruised form. Ever since he could remember, he had been bullied by the other kids all because he was quiet. He never really spoke much to any of the others unless they spoke to him first. And it was because it his constant quietness that he ended up getting bullied in the first place. Apparently some taller boys thought it would be fun make fun and pick on him because since he was so quiet, that he wouldn't do anything to defend himself.

And they were right, he didn't ever defend himself. No matter how many times he got pushed, shoved, hit, beaten, or kicked, he not once ever tried to fight back. Frankly he didn't see the point because he knew that it would only get him into more trouble. And trouble was basically what his entire life was like. The only place where he even felt remotely safe was his home, because his parents were the only people he knew that were even nice to him. At home, he felt warm, safe, and loved, but at school he was abused, called names, and made fun of simply because he was a quiet kid. He always felt cold, scared alone.

Those feelings, however, all disappeared about four years ago was he was molested by one of his teachers.

It was a day he literally felt like he was in hell. His teacher had told him to stay after class when all of the other kids had left so he could speak to him about the fights he had been getting into. At first he was happy to know that he had at least gotten some help from someone that wasn't his parents, not that he didn't appreciate their help or anything like that. He just wanted to have one person he could come to and rely on whenever he was sad.

The thought had slowly died in his head when he noticed the teacher had locked his classroom door and slowly walked towards him with a terrifying grin on his face while unbuttoning his shirt and trapping him in a corner. Then he attacked him and held his arms and legs down on the ground while unbuckling his pants. The next thing that happened was…

Well, let's just say that he was glad he couldn't remember what had happened next. The only thing he could remember was him lying in a hospital bed staring at the ceiling with hollow eyes with bruises and bandages covering his entire body and his mother crying her eyes out by his bedside, with his father at her side trying to comfort her while crying tears of his own.

Ever since that day, he was a complete shell of his former self. He no longer cared what the other kids did to him or how much they beat him. The only time he ever showed any emotion was at his home around his parents. And jot once did he ever try to make friends, because he simply just didn't care anymore.

His daily beating soon came to an end when the sound of the school bell rung throughout the playground, signaling the end of school. With a scoff, the leader of the bullies delivered one last kick to Issei's stomach.

"There goes our fun. See you next week freak" he said before he and the other bullies turned around and left in the opposite direction.

Issei simply just laid on the grass as all of the other students left the school. Neither one of them ever noticing the injured ten year-old who was left behind. Issei lied there on his side, clutching his bruised stomach while he stared at the ground with cold, emotionless, half-lidded eyes. Even though he didn't care anymore, he wished deep inside that all this pain would just go away. He wished that he could just stand up for himself and teach those kids a lesson for making his life a living hell. He wish he could just go back in time, find his teacher, and hurt him very badly for touching him. He didn't want to be weak, he wanted to be strong.

_**(And you can. If that is what you desire…)**_ spoke a chilling, disembodied voice.

Issei suddenly bolted his head upright and winced in pain from the bruises. He frantically shook his head left and right, scanning his surroundings trying to locate the origin of the voice. After moments of continuous searching, Issei furrowed his brows in confusion when he couldn't find where the voice had come from. Strange. It sounded like it was right on top of him, yet there wasn't a single person in sight. Issei also noticed that he must have been out of it for quite some time because he felt little droplets of rain lightly tapping the top of his head. With a sigh, Issei shakily, yet painfully, got up onto his feet and limped his way towards his home. Thankfully he lived relatively close to the school so he only had to limp about a block or so.

As Issei limped towards his house, he failed to notice a dark figure that was watching him from behind a nearby tree. The figure stroked its chin as it watched the retreating the child with fascination.

"So this is the child that contains all of that tremendous energy I sensed all those years ago." The figure spoke in a deep, gravel-like voice. "Hmm, he certainly is a curious little one. Perhaps I should keep my eye on him for a while. A pity he doesn't know of the power he holds within himself." The figure said before it disappeared from sight.

* * *

_**Hyoudou Residence, six hours later**_

"Here you go sweetie. This should get rid of the bruises and make your head feel better." Kazane Hyoudou said sitting on the side of her son's bed as she gently placed a warm towel on his forehead.

She nearly had a heart attack earlier this afternoon when she saw Issei limping inside the house with bruises on his arms and legs, as well as some on his head. She knew he had been bullied by the other boys every once and a while. And it made her heart break every time he came home bruised. Ever since the incident with his teacher four years ago, they had moved to a different town in hopes of finding a safer place where her son could be happy. But now it seems that trouble follows wherever they went because just a few weeks after they moved into their new neighborhood and enrolled Issei into his new school, he was bullied once again. And it made her want to cry her eyes out knowing that she couldn't do anything to protect her baby. And what's worse was that Issei didn't seem interested at all in making any friends. It looked as though he just wanted to stay alone no matter how many times she tried to convince him into making friends. What also made it worse was that they couldn't afford to move anywhere else. So with nothing left to do, they would have to remain here until they were able to come up with more money in able to move again.

"Thanks mom" Issei said to his mother quietly with a small sigh of relief after putting on the hot towel. He made himself comfortable in his bed and was about to fall asleep until his mother bent down and gave him a long, soft kiss on the cheek. After a moment, she removed her lips from his face and gave him a warm, loving smile before gently rubbing his other cheek with her hand.

"I love you Issei. So, so much. And don't let those other boys bother you. They just don't understand how special you are." She said with all the love in the world before giving him one last kiss on the cheek and walking towards the door. She turned around and gave her son a smile. "Goodnight Issei" she said before she shut the door.

Issei laid on his bed and stared at the closed door for a few moments before allowing a small smile make its way onto his lips and a few tears to drip down from his eyes. He made a small sniffling noise before he stared back up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. Ready to be drowned in eight hours worth of a peaceful sleep.

* * *

_**Within Issei's inner subconscious, three hours later**_

Issue woke up to notice that he was no longer in his bed within his room, but instead was now laying on a hard floor that was surrounded by cold water. The sky above him was pitch-black and he was able to make out traces of white fog that was floating within the darkness. Confused, and a little scared at where he was, Issei got to his feet to scan his surroundings, while taking note that the water mysteriously didn't make his clothes or skin wet as he got up. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but complete darkness and the wisps of white fog that floated aimlessly in the air.

In one last effort, Issei puffed out his chest was about to yell out to see if anyone was near until he heard a faint splash come from behind him. He quickly spun around and almost fell back on the ground in complete shock at what he saw.

Right in front of him was probably the largest door he had ever seen in his entire life that was surrounded by a large, black wall that seemed to expand in all different directions for miles. The door was about as tall as his house and was a dark green color. Carved right into the door was what appeared to be images of all sorts of different creatures and scary looking monsters he had never seen before. Some were large that had numerous appendages coming out of their bodies such as tentacles, claws, spikes, nails, teeth, and even eyeballs. Others were small that had no limbs whatsoever and instead were nothing but floating blobs whose bodies were covered with eyes and jaws. The one that stood put to him the most though was the one that was right in the middle of the door. It had two arms and legs like a normal person except its head looked like a large octopus and its fingers and toes were replaced with claws. It had a large body that was composed of scales along with two large bat wings jutting from behind its back.

Before Issei could even make a move to get a closer look, the door suddenly made a loud, hinged sound, as if the door was being unlocked. A large line then appeared all the way down the middle of the door, where it slowly began to open. Issei took a few steps back when the door was fully opened, revealing nothing but darkness and a gust of cold air that blew right past him, causing him to wrap his arms around his body and shake in his place. He then began to hear a single set of footsteps and saw that a single, human figure was making its way towards him and out of the opened door. Once the figure was clear enough from the darkness inside the door, Issei openly gaped at what he saw.

Standing in front of him was what appearing to be a human wearing a set of black armor mixed with gold. It had gold gauntlets, boots, as well as two shoulder pieces that took on a strange resemblance to dragon heads that protruded from out of his shoulders. He also wore a gold mask that looked somewhat like the large monster he had seen in the middle of the door. It had four small tentacles that curved downward on the bottom of the mask along with horn-like appendages that were slicked back near the top. In the middle of the mask was a pair of dark, slanted, baggy eye holes that were currently boring right into Issei's scared purple-green eyes.

The two merely stared at each other in complete silence for about a minute before the armored human raised its left hand in a calming gesture.

"_**You need not be frightened of me, child. I mean you no harm."**_ The human spoke in a deep, echoing male voice.

This however, did not calm Issei's nerves as he continued to slightly shake from the cold, but also in fear. "W-Who are y-you?" he asked as he continued to shiver.

Seeing his shivering form, the human turned hallway towards the door while still staring at Issei. _**"Perhaps it would be best if we continued this elsewhere. Come. It will be warmer inside."**_

Issei still wasn't convinced as he continued to stay rooted to his spot. The human gave off a deep sigh before turning his back to Issei and facing towards the door. _**"I give you my word that no harm will come to you, child. The answers to everything that you seek lies inside. All you have to do is follow."**_ And with that, he made his way back inside the darkness within the door.

Issei stood in his place contemplating on what to do. He somehow ended up in a dark and cold place that seemed to go on forever in every direction, and suddenly this armored man emerges from a large door and tells him to follow him, not knowing at all where the darkness inside the door could lead. But the man had also told him that it was where he would find the answers to what he was looking for. And so far, following him seemed to be his best bet. So, with great reluctance, Issei slowly began to walk forward towards the door where the cold and empty darkness grew with each step he took. Once he was inside, he turned to look back the other way and saw that the door had already closed shut. He looked back in front of him and was shocked to find the largest library he had even seen before. Rows upon rows of thousands of books littered each and every shelf that went down great hallways towards more sections of book shelves. Hanged on the walls were large paintings of various images of different planets, landscapes, more of the creatures that he had seen on the door, and even one of an entire galaxy.

"_**I see you are fascinated with the library."**_

Issei jerked his body in fright and looked to his left and saw that the armored human was leaning on one of the nearby book shelves with his arms crossed and his mask's eye holes staring at him. Issei took a few breathes to compose himself before speaking to the human.

"U-Um… yeah, it's… very big. Bigger than any library I've ever been to before." He said in a nervous voice before once again looking around the room and back at the human. "Um… if you don't mind me asking… what exactly is this place?" he asked

The armored figure simply stared at him for a while longer before uncrossing his arms and pushing himself off of the shelf. He walked over to stand next to Issei and moved his hand in the air in a waving motion, directing Issei's attention towards the entire library.

"_**This is the ancient library of Hermaeus Mora, the god of Knowledge and Memory. Each and every book that resides within this library contains ancient and forbidden knowledge of the entire universe. Everything that you would have thought to never exist can be found within this library. This place however, cannot be accessed by anyone except you." **_

To say that Issei was shocked would've been the understatement of his entire life. An entire library filled with unlimited, yet forbidden, information about the entire universe that was accessible to nobody else except for him? He didn't know whether to be happy or afraid.

"No one can get in it except for me?" he asked with wide eyes. "But why is it forbidden? And why am I the only one who can get in? I'm nobody special." He said as he looked down at the floor in sadness.

The human put an armored hand on Issei's shoulder, slightly scaring him a bit. _**"That is not true, young one. You are indeed a very special person. And you were given access to this library for a reason. The reason being, is that you have potential. And not just potential, but a great power within you that you have yet to discover. And that is why I am here. To help you unlock that power."**_

Issei stared up at the man with a complete gob smacked expression. He had some sort of hidden power that was locked within him this entire time and he never knew it? And this man was offering to help him? Before he could ask another question, the man spoke again.

"_**And as for the reason why it is forbidden is because any mortal who would so much as glance inside one of these books would've been rendered completely insane, and were forced to stay here for all eternity. But don't worry about that. As I have said before, no harm will come to you here. And as for why you are the only one who has access to the library, is because it lies within your head. And no, I do not mean you are imagining it. I am literally saying that is located deep within your head. In your mind."**_

Issei once again paralyzed with shock. This entire library filled with forbidden knowledge that would've derived anyone else insane, was inside of his head? "B-But how is that even possible!?" he shouted. "How is it that I had an entire god's library, along with a guy in armor and some mysterious power, stuck inside my head the whole time without ever knowing it!? It doesn't make any sense!"

The man once aging put his armored hand on Issei's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. Once he saw that Issei had taken a couple of deep breaths, he continued speaking. _**"I know that you are confused, young one. And I will do my best to explain. Please follow me." **_He said before he started walking down a nearby hallway, with Issei following close behind him.

The two walked the through seemingly endless halls of the great library. Occasionally taking one or two turns into different hallways. It greatly amazed Issei at how large the inside of the library was. To him it felt like an endless maze that you could walk through forever, and every wall and corner that you saw would be made of dozens of books. To think that all of the books stored here contained endless information about everything within the universe that was forbidden to everyone except for him just made even more exciting for him.

After about ten minutes of nonstop walking through Issei's self-proclaimed "endless maze of books", the two stopped in front of one of the large book shelves, where the man walked forward a plucked out a book with a black cover from the shelf. He opened it and began turning numerous pages left and right until he stopped on a random page, turned to Issei and handed him the book, where he took it in his hands and was able to see a small picture of a hideous-looking monster that looked like a big blob made up of nothing but tentacles, eyeballs, and mouths. Issei looked back up at the man with a questioning glance and was about to ask him what the creature was until the man crossed his arm and spoke.

"_**The image of the creature you see there is an immense being, as well as a god known as Azathoth. He is a being of colossal size as well as a deity of power unlike anything that has ever existed and is said to originate from the center of the entire universe. He is also known as an Outer God, as well as a Great Old One. He is the direct ancestor of numerous Great Old Ones and is the sole creator of all the Elder Gods, as well as the numerous races that descend from the Elder Gods. He is so powerful that not even the Gods of the entire Earth could hope to defeat him. Even with their powers combined into one, it still wouldn't be anywhere near enough to match up to a quarter of Azathoth's power."**_

Issei stood frozen in his place with the book still held tightly within his grasp. He stared up at the man in slight fear before looking Baca down at the image of Azathoth. This creature was that powerful that it could easily defeat all of the Gods of Earth, who were said to also be unbelievably powerful from what he studied in school, like they were nothing?

"B-But I still don't understand how this answers any of my questions" said Issei as her nervously looked back up at the man in front of him.

"_**Remember when I said that you had a special power locked inside of you?" **_he asked Issei, who nodded in response. _**"Do you remember anything when you were first born?" **_

Issei looked surprised by the sudden question before sadly shaking his head. "Sorry. I don't remember anything at all."

"_**It was to be expected. But the reason why you have that special power in the first place is because Azathoth was the one who gave it to you the very moment you were born. Your locked power is actually a portion of his own power that he transferred over to you. And because that it came from Azathoth himself, that portion is actually more than enough to rival the power of the Gods of the Earth themselves. Maybe even greater. And the reason why he chose you to wield it was because he also saw great potential in you." **_

Issei look like he was about to faint. He was actually surprised he was still holding on to the book at this point. He didn't understand any of this anymore. A god from space had chosen him to wield his power, and put it inside his body when he wasn't even a day old?

He didn't know what to do. He dropped the book on to the floor and staggered backwards while hyperventilating. He felt as if the entire room was spinning and the walls were closing in. He was sweating bullets and tears were coming out of his eyes. He grabbed his head in a tight grip and frantically looked around the room in panic.

"B-But it still doesn't make any sense! Why me!? Why is it always me!? Why is it that some alien god chose me to keep his power when he could've just as easily chosen someone else to do it!? I can't do it! I can't do any of it! I'm always alone, I can't ever defend myself when the other kids beat me up, and four years ago I was…I was…AHH! I don't have anyone else! My parents are the only one I can trust! They're the only ones who love and support me! If I lost them… I-I don't know what I'd do!" he yelled into the air as his tears started streaming down his face.

It was true though. He had no friends and no other people that he could rely on except for his parents. They meant the world to him and if he ever had lost them, he'd probably go insane.

"_**Weren't you the one who said he wanted to be stronger?"**_

Issei brought his head out of his hands and saw the man staring at him with his arms crossed. "W-What?" he asked.

"_**Earlier today while you were laying on the ground beaten and bruised, didn't you say that you wanted to get stronger so you could teach those brats a lesson? To search for that pitiful excuse of a human being that you called a teacher and make him pay for molesting you all those years ago?"**_

Issei widened his teary eyes before blushing in embarrassment and quickly looking away. "W-Well, u-umm…yes?" he admitted.

"_**Well you're not going to be doing it anytime soon without training now, are you?"**_

"What are you talking ab-"

"_**I mean just as I speak, child. You have no fighting experience whatsoever. And there is no way you are going to win in a real fight without any sort of training. Fortunately for you, I just so happen to be a master in the art of combat and am offering to teach you a few things so you will be able to defend yourself in the future. But first…"**_

The armored man suddenly brought up one of his hands where it began to shine a bright gold color. Before Issei could ask what he was doing, a golden aura suddenly surrounded his entire body for a few seconds before it completely disappeared into thin air. He looked back up at the man and noticed that his hand was no longer glowing and was back to being crossed over his chest.

"Umm… what did you just do?" he asked him in confusion.

"_**Just a little gift that should help you out in the future. I now made it so that your skin will heal at a faster rate, along with making it more resistant to any injuries you may receive. You could get stabbed with a knife and it would only be the equivalent of a small paper cut." **_

Issei widened his eyes in complete shock at the information. Getting stabbed by a knife and only receiving a paper cut in return? _I think I'm going to like these new powers_ he thought to himself.

Suddenly the entire library shook for a second before it completely stopped. Blinking his eyes in confusion, Issei looked at the man, who was looking up in the other direction.

"_**I believe the time has come for you to return to your body." **_He said as he uncrossed his arms and looked back at Issei.

"W-Wait! What about my training?" he frantically asked.

"_**I was getting to that. Hold out your left hand."**_

Confused at this sudden request, Issei slowly held out his left hand towards the man, who in turn, lifted his right hand over Issei's. They stayed like this for a few moments and Issei was about to ask what he was doing until his left hand suddenly started glowing a dark green color. Issei widened his eyes as his hand continued to glow and began to feel a strange feeling that was emanating throughout his entire body. Suddenly the glow on his hand faded and Issei looked to see a strange symbol that was now on top of his hand. It took the appearance of a simple drawer out version of the sun except the sun's rays were replaced with black tentacles that were twisting from left to right. The sphere that was in the middle of the tentacles was also colored black.

Confused with the strange symbol, Issei looked back up at the man for an answer before he started speaking.

"_**That mark is a representation of the Xalma Star, which is a black sun located within the galaxy of the Great Old Ones. Tomorrow we will practice using some of your new abilities that you have gained through Azathoth's power. Since the power is so large, we will need to unlock it in separate stages one at a time, so that you won't destroy your body by unleashing it all at once." **_

Before Issei could say anything else, his entire body started becoming transparent, as if he was slowly fading away.

"_**I'm sorry, young one. But now is the time for you to leave. And don't worry, we will speak to each other again very soon. Until then, farewell Issei Hyoudou." **_

Seeing that he was about to disappear, Issei suddenly asked the man one more question. "Wait! I never got your name!"

The man gave a slight pause before answering. _**"You may call me…Miraak." **_

With that said, Issei Hyoudou completely faded away from the library, leaving the newly named Miraak alone with his thoughts. _**It seems Azathoth was correct. **_He said to himself in his thoughts. _**You certainly are an interesting human, Issei Hyoudou.**_

* * *

**Authors Note: That's right everybody! Miraak, the very first Dragonborn from the last Skyrim DLC will be joining Issei on his journey to greatness along with several other companions! But if you wanna find out who they are, then you'll just have to wait and see! I'm planning on making this story as long as possible so you'll have to wait a while before finding out. But until then, please keep reading and I hope you enjoy it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The power within**

_**Issei's bedroom, five hours later**_

The morning sun glared harshly through Issei's bedroom window as he struggled to stay asleep. Issei quickly turned to his side and covered his head with the blankets as the sun's bright rays shined right through his eyelids. He was too busy having the best sleep after his weekly beating yesterday and he had no desire to get up.

'_RRRRRRRRRRRR'_

But unfortunately his stomach thought otherwise. With a low grumble, Issei threw the blankets off of his entire body while grabbing the towel off of his head and rubbed his tired eyes open.

_Man that was one weird dream last night_ he thought to himself as he remembered the events that transpired last night.

_**(It was no dream Issei)**_

Issei literally jumped a foot off of his bed and frantically looked around the room while his heart was beating a mile a minute, trying to locate the sudden deep and echoing voice that came out of nowhere. "W-Who's there!?" he fearfully yelled.

_**(Issei, it's me, Miraak.)**_ the chilling voice, now known as Miraak said.

Issei widened his eyes at the familiar name. "M-Miraak? That was you? Where are you?"

_**(Within your mind Issei. I was able to create a telepathic link so that I can speak to you without anyone else hearing. And you don't need to talk out loud just to speak to me. Just think of what you wish to say and I will hear it.)**_

Issei contemplated the idea for a moment before testing it out. _'Like this?'_ he asked in his thoughts.

_**(Very good Issei. And before you ask, no, what transpired last night was not at all a dream. We really did meet within your subconscious. And in case you have forgotten, we are going to sound the entire day training you with your new abilities. Is there a nearby location where you will be completely alone without any watchful eyes?)**_

Issei kept his eyes widened throughout Miraak's entire speech, suddenly remembering about his inner powers before answering his question. _'Y-Yeah, there is! There's a huge forest that's right behind my house!"_

_**(Perfect. Dress yourself and get some necessary nourishment before going out. We are going to be training for the entire day so make sure you get enough to eat. And make sure you aren't followed.)**_

Issei gave a quick nod before running over to his closet and picking out a pair of clothes. Since it was a sunny day today, he decided to wear a white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts before heading downstairs, where he happily greeted his parents a good morning before scarfing down two bowls of cereal and a glass of water. He informed his parents that he was going to be hanging out in the forest behind their house for a while and after a couple minutes of reassuring his parents that his injuries were healed and that he was fine, they finally agreed to let him go and he bolted out the door and into the nearby forest where he ran for about ten minutes, occasionally looking back behind him to make sure he wasn't follow before stopping in the middle of a large field that was free of any surrounding trees.

'_Alright Miraak, I'm here and no one has followed me. Now what?' _he asked.

_**(Excellent Issei. Remember that mark I placed on the top of your left hand?) **_Issei thought a silent 'yes'. _**(I need you to activate it for me. To do that, all you have to do is imagine your inner energy flowing throughout your entire body and try directing it towards your left hand. Imagine the mark glowing to life as you redirect your energy. But make sure you concentrate hard.) **_

Slightly nervous, Issei slowly brought up his left arm and closed his eyes. He imagined a colored light that was flowing through his body like the blood in his veins and he imagined himself turning his inner valves in order to redirect the flow and focused it all into his left hand. He opened his eyes and looked at his hand, only to be slightly disappointed that it didn't work. He closed them again and tried re-imagining him turning the inner valves of his body. With his eyes closed, he slowly reared back his hand before quickly thrusting it forward. He suddenly began feeling a weird, vibrating sensation on his hand and opened his eyes to see the mark was now fully glowing a bright green. He brought it closer to his face and was able to see the outlines of the tentacles as well as the sphere of the sun. After about a minute of examining the mark, Issei tapped into his mind and spoke. _'Hey Miraak, I got the mark working. What do I do now?' _

_**(Good job Issei. We will now be working with all of the mark's abilities. The first is known as Blink. It's an ability that gives you the power of short ranged teleportation. To do this, all you need to do is set your hand into a fist and direct your eyes to wear you want to teleport before releasing your fist. Be warned that this ability is quite fast and might knock you off your feet the first few tries and will take some time to get used to. So make sure you are ready before using it.) **_

Issei took a deep breath before looking straight ahead about ten feet in front of him before squeezing his marked hand into a fist. He lifted his eyebrows in surprise when a large, glowing green sphere suddenly appeared out of nowhere and directly on top the spot he was about to teleport to. He tried locating another place to teleport to but soon found out that no matter where he moved his eyes, the green sphere would follow close behind. Just when he was about to ask Miraak what it was, his voice interrupted him.

_**(That green sphere you are witnessing acts as a marker and will place itself on whatever or wherever it is you are wanting to teleport to.) **_

With a silent understanding nod, Issei focused his attention back to the spot ten feet in front of him, the green sphere placing itself there a second later. Issei once again took a deep breath and lifted his left hand. He gulped a nervous lump down his throat before releasing his fist.

_FWOOOOSH_

"AHH!" yelled Issei as he suddenly found himself right on top of the location he was staring at a falling flat on his chest right into the dirt. He coughed up a bit before shakily pushing himself up off the ground and deeply inhaling the fresh air with his hands on his knees. His heart racing inside of his chest.

_**(Are you alright Issei?) **_Asked Miraak.

Issei took a couple more deep breathes before composing himself. "Y-Yeah, *cough*, I'm fine."

_**(As I have said before, it will take some time to getting used to. Why don't you take a few minutes to teleport some more around the field, just to get the hang of it? But make sure you're ready before teleporting, so you don't end up falling over every time.)**_

Issei nodded once more before setting his feet into a steady position and once again making his hand into a fist. He looked straight ahead of him about another ten feet before releasing his hand and suddenly teleporting another ten feet in a matter of seconds. Luckily, he didn't fall over again but he did almost lose his balance. After setting himself up into another ready position, Issei once again blinked himself ahead another ten feet. He spent the next few minutes simply just teleporting back and forth around the entire field while getting the hang of his new ability. Once he felt he could handle himself, Issei stopped using his Blink and waited for Miraak to give out the next instructions.

_**(Very well done Issei. You have handled this much better than I thought you would. The next ability we will be training with is called Dark Vision. This lets you see objects and living things through walls, as well as their fields of vision. All you have to do is focus your energy into your eyes, then blink them once. This will provide an excellent tool when in stealthy situations.)**_

Issei nodded in understanding before concentrating on his inner energy to redirect it into his eyes. He felt the mark on his hand glow a brighter green and got the same sensation he had gotten in is hand only it was now in his eyes. With a steady breath, Issei blinked his eyes once and suddenly the whole world changed around him.

Instead of the bright sun and the glowing blue sky, all the colors of the world were now that of a dark green. Looking into the forest, Issei was able to see numerous birds and squirrels through the trees as well as small cones of light that were emanating from their eyes, which he quickly deduced were their fields of vision. He was also able to see a multitude of flowers from behind the tall grass within the field. Feeling satisfied with his newfound ability, Issei focused on his inner energy and once again blinked his eyes, successfully deactivating the Dark Vision and returning the world to its normal colors.

'_Okay Miraak, what's next?'_ Issei asked his inner guardian.

_**(Next will be an ability known as Bend Time. With this, you will literally have the power to freeze time all around you while you will still be able to freely move. This will be extremely useful when getting the drop on your enemy or for quick and easy escapes out of extreme situations. You will need to once again focus your energy into your left hand but instead of making a fist, you bring your hand up while it's open, and slowly bring it back down while closing it. Give it a try.) **_

Issei did as he was told and refocused the energy back into his hand. Once the sensation returned, he brought his open hand up into the air with his palm facing towards him. He then slowly brought his arm back down to his side while closing his hand, and the world was once again encased in a hue of dark green. Only this time, Issei could no longer feel the wind at his back and looked up to see a couple of birds that were frozen in midair. He also noticed a nearby squirm that was also frozen halfway up a tree. Giggling to himself in slight amusement, Issei repeated the same arm motion and reactivated time. The birds continuing to fly towards their destination while the squirrel climbed all the way to the top of the tree.

_**(The next ability you will learn might feel a little strange to you, Issei. It is known as Possession. This allows you to enter the mind of any living thing, be it human or animal, and take control of their bodies. Focus your energy into your palm while setting your hand halfway into a grabbing motion while aiming it towards the being you wish to possess. Once this is done, all you have to do is thrust your arm forward while lifting all of your fingers at once, as if you were shooting a fireball at them from your palm.)**_

Issei looked around the field to try to find anything worth possessing when he spotted a squirrel sitting on a nearby. With a steady breath, Issei raised his arm and focused his inner energy into his palm while setting his hand into a halfway grabbing motion. To his surprise, a small, green cloud materialized itself inside his palm while another one appeared around the squirrel's small head. Ready for anything, Issei reared his hand back, and with one last movement, swiftly trusted his arm forward.

_WOOOOOSH_

What he was not prepared for, however, was suddenly appearing right on top of the rock and looking down to see his hands completely covered in brown fur and about the size of a small pebble. He looked back and widened his now tiny eyes when he noticed he was now sporting a large, bushy tail that was coming out of his back, his legs and lower body also being completely covered in brown fur. Realization soon came to his tiny brain as he widened his tiny eyes in complete horror.

Issei was now a squirrel.

Large gasps of air started to withdraw from his tiny lungs as he was on the brink of panicking. _'Miraak, I don't like this anymore! How do I get out!?' _he yelled in fear to his inner tenant.

_**(Calm yourself, Issei. Just close your eyes while focusing on your inner energy and imagine yourself 'jumping out' of the body. It should only take a moment.)**_

Quickly calming himself, Issei closed his squirrel eyes and tried imagining his human body jumping out of the squirrels head. He suddenly felt a slight push before he was able to feel the wind on his body once more. He opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer on the rock, but standing right next to it within his own human body, while the squirrel next to him gave a few shakes of its head more running off into the forest. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Issei quickly gave himself a check over to make sure he didn't inherit any fur or tails before stretching his human limbs and continued waiting for Miraak to give out the next instructions.

_**(The next is one that I personally added myself. It is known as Hermaeus Rift, and is the most frightening of your mark's abilities. It allows you to summon a large mass of tentacles that will rise out of the ground, grab your enemies, and bring them into the black mass they are summoned from and will swallow them whole into oblivion. The most useful trait for this ability is that the more power you charge into it, the more tentacles the rise out of the mass as along with larger sizes. To do this, you will need to open your hand with your palm facing towards the sky and slowly bring it up into the air. As if you're literally rising something from out of the ground without physically touching it. And to cancel it, simply push the palm of your hand towards the ground, as if you were forcing it back into the earth.)**_

Issei, now a little nervous after Miraak's description of the ability, merely gave off a slow nod before activating his mark and slowly lifting his hand up into the air. As if on cue, a large hole filled with a mysterious black liquid suddenly appeared into the ground. Almost immediately, seven ugly green tentacles that appeared to be five feet in length and covered in black slime, shot out of the ground and violently thrashed in all directions, as if looking for the closest living being to drag within the black hole. Feeling sick at the mere sight of the tentacles, Issei brought up his arm and pushed the palm of his hand towards the ground, where the tentacles retreated back into the hole and dematerialized out of existence, leaving nothing but a large crater in the dirt where the hole recently was.

_**(It may look grotesque, but it is extremely useful when dealing with multiple enemies at once.) **_Miraak spoke, trying to calm Issei's sick feeling. _**(Alright Issei, the last ability you will be using is known as Conjuration. This allows you to summon any of races belonging to the Elder Gods as using them to either fight for you or alongside you. To do this, all you need to do is think of the race you want to summon and charge a ball of energy within the palm of your hand. Once fully charged, shoot at the ground nearby where the creature of your choice will materialize out of thin air. We will be studying the different races another time since you have no knowledge of any, but for this experiment, I will give you the name of one race. **_

Issei listened as Miraak whispered a name within his mind, momentarily furrowing his brow in confusion before shrugging and activating his mark. He focused his energy into the palm of his left hand and kept it there for a few moments before a small, dark green ball of pure light was swirling in his hand. He then focused his attention on a spot about five feet in front of him before throwing the glowing sphere like a baseball. It impacted the ground and exploded into a small, swirling portal that momentarily blinded easy due to the brightness. Once the brightness had settled Issei looked on ahead and dropped his jaw in complete shock at what he saw.

Standing not more than ten feet away from him was what looked like the skeleton of some sort of canine that was completely see through, as if all the bones were made entirely out of glass. It was standing on all fours, which consisted of razor-sharp glass claws with a tail nowhere present on its body. But the most frightening aspect about it was that instead of the skull of a normal canine, it looked like it contained the skull of a small dragon. Bearing a large haw filled with rows of glass teeth, along with two, foot-long horns that carved upward on top of its head. Issei also saw that the skull contained no eye holes.

Before he could even attempt to ask Miraak what the thing even was, his voice once again stopped him from doing so.

_**(The Hounds of Tindalos. Immortal and endlessly blood-thirsty creatures that are capable of draining a body entirely clean of all its fluids with a single bite of its jaw. They have speeds that are invisible to the naked eye and teeth and claws that can rip through the strongest steel with one swipe. Terrifying alone, nightmarish in packs. You should be thankful they are on your side, Issei. Nobody has ever been within a hundred feet of a single hound and has lived to tell the tale.)**_

Issei gulped nervously, not at all calmed by Miraak's reassurance as he continued to stare at the skeletal hound, who was busy sniffing the ground with its large, glass snout. This thing was supposed to be that dangerous? Granted, it did look quite terrifying, especially since Miraak said they usually hunted in packs, but killing a person in just one bite or ripping through the world's strongest metal with just one swipe of its claw? Issei guessed that he would just have to find out for himself.

He was broken out of his thoughts when the glass hound took notice of him and slowly crept towards his position. Nervousness was soon replaced with fear as Issei stood rooted into his spot and not even attempting to make a run for, fearing that the hound would quickly catch up to him and kill him. With nothing left to do, Issei decided to stay frozen in his spot, not daring to move a single muscle as the hound came closer. Once it was about a few inches away from Issei, it began walking around him in a full circle while sniffing him up and down, all while Issei had his arms to his side and his heart thumping wildly inside his chest, though he didn't know how the hound could even sniff him in the first place since he didn't see any holes within its nose. What happened next almost made Issei jump out of his skin.

The hound then started to rub its skeletal body on Issei's side while its head was rubbing up against his hand. Having no idea what to do in this situation, Issei slowly brought up his hand and started petting the hound on its glass head. This only prompted said hound to rub its head on his hand even more, and he didn't know why, but Issei was pretty sure that if the hound had lungs it would be purring like a cat at this point.

'_Wow. Even for a bloodthirsty, glass dog, these guys are actually pretty nice.'_ Thought Issei as he continued to pet the hound.

_**(Indeed.) **_Agreed Miraak. _**(Though they are wild and dangerous beasts, the Hounds of Tindalos are also known for taking well-care of their own kin, and since you are technically its master since you summoned it, that makes you part of their kin. I almost forgot to tell you, if you want to dispel the creatures that you summon, all you have to do is charge the energy within your mark and snap your fingers. They will dispel almost immediately.)**_

Nodding in conformation, Issei gave the glass hound one more pat on the head before charging his inner energy into his mark and snapping his fingers. He then watched as the hound suddenly disappeared within a glowing vortex which that closed up after a second, once again leaving Issei alone within the field, although slightly disappointed at losing a cool companion, which prompted him to ask his inner tenant a question.

'_Hey Miraak, can I summon anything else?' _

_**(Yes, but since you don't know any other species besides the hounds, I'm afraid they are all you are able to conjure at the moment. But don't fret. We will be studying the various species of the Elder Gods within the library as part of your training once the next task is complete. But we will discuss that another time. For now, I want you to continue training with your mark abilities for the rest of the day so you are able to get a better understanding of how they work. It will also give you extra time to develop your various combat capabilities and how to get the drop on your enemy if you are ever attacked in the future.) **_

For the rest of the afternoon, Issei spent hours of intense focus and concentration training in his newly acquired mark abilities. For hours he would spend Blinking from tree to tree while every once and a while, possessed a different type of animal that he would come across. He even attempted to possess and control a bird so that he could fly, only failed miserably and ended up plummeting his way to the ground. Thankfully he was able to get some sort of control over the bird's body and managed to safely land on the ground without injuring the bird, which took off like a speeding bullet after he left its body.

Issei had also fell into a fit of wild lighter when he used his Bend Time ability to quickly gather a bunch of squirrels he would find and stack them on top of each other while they were still frozen. He could barely even breathe when he continued the flow of time and joyfully watched as they all came toppling to the ground, quickly got on their feet and sprinting off into the forest. He had also attempted to play fetch with a Tindalos Hound but every time it tried to catch a stick in its mouth that Issei threw, it would always break in half due to the intense strength of its jaw. So instead of fetch, the two had just settled for laying in the grass and watching the sunset, with the hound laying its glass head in Issei's lap while he would occasionally pet its glass spine.

Issei had also managed to use Hermaeus Rift, only he had to immediately dematerialize it after one of the tentacles grabbed a nearby tree and literally pulled it out of the ground and sucking it up into the mass of black liquid. It's not that he didn't like the ability or anything, it's just that he would prefer it if the forest could actually manage to stay intact. He was just thankful that a person hadn't been walking within the tentacles' range.

While resting on the ground with his new companion sitting right beside him, Issei noticed that the sun was now at a full set. Covering his mouth with a quick yawn, Issei gave the hound right beside one last pat on the head before quickly dispelling him and making his way back to his house. And Issei could honestly say for the first time in a long while, that he was genuinely happy. Happy for meeting his first friend, and happy for finally gaining his own strength through a newly found power that he didn't even know he had.

* * *

What Issei didn't know, however, was that he had been watched the entire time he was training with his mark.

Hidden deep within the thick foliage of the large forest, standing on a nearby tree branch, was a well-endowed, seemingly terrifying, yet strikingly beautiful woman. She had long, pitch-black hair that reached all the way down to her knees with pale skin and pointed ears. On top of her head was what looked like some sort of Gothic bow. Her outfit also looked like it was consisted of Gothic proportions as well that was mostly open around her chest area, revealing a substantial amount of cleavage from her large breasts. But the most bizarre feature that this girl had was her deep black eyes that bored into Issei's retreating figure with absolutely no emption whatsoever. They were completely hollow of any sort of feeling, almost as if they were nothing but empty shells within her eye sockets.

Just like the three factions, she had also sensed the enormous energy that had fluctuated all over the entire world ten years ago. While she first hadn't paid any mind to it since the power she contained was far greater, she had recently been aware that the energy was continually growing and held some sort of feeling that was completely unknown to her. As if it seemingly came out of nowhere from some nonexistent place. It had intrigued her enough that she had set out from her home to try to locate the source of the growing energy, only to find that it was contained within the body of a ten year-old male child.

She gazed at him with her completely empty eyes as he spent hours using some sort of strange abilities. While she had already known about teleportation, possession, and conjuring, she was completely unfamiliar with how this child was somehow able to halt the flow of time, as well as summon strange looking creatures she had never seen before. This only seemed to increase her interest in him even further.

As soon as the sun had set itself onto the horizon, she continued watching as the child dispelled the glass creature walked back to wherever he came from. The child was interesting to her no less, but for some reason there was something about the power within him that seemed off-putting to her. It was dark, colossal, otherworldly, and she could detect a fair amount of evil within it as well.

"This child is strange" she said in a low, sultry, monotone voice. "He holds an enormous energy within him, yet it feels completely unfamiliar, even to myself. I should take care to monitor his progress."

With that, Ophis the Ouroborus Dragon, also known as the Infinite Dragon God made once last glance at the retreating child before disappearing in a swirl of black energy. The thoughts on the child that contained the otherworldly energy still fresh within her dark mind.

* * *

_**Hermaeus' Library, Issei's inner subconscious, six hours later**_

"So what did you want to talk to me about Miraak?" Issei asked his tenant in confusion as they both walked within the great halls of the library.

Once Issei had gotten home from his training with the mark, he was immediately assaulted by both of his parents, scolding him for being out so long without ever coming to check in while the searched his body for any injuries he may have gotten. It took some convincing, but after about ten minutes of repeatedly telling his parents that he was just out exploring and simply lost check of time, he was able to calm their nerves before settling down at the dinner table and eating a large meal with his parents. After that he had spent about two hours of watching some TV on the couch before informing his parents that he was going to bed. After a quick goodnight kiss on the head from his mother, Issei made his way up into his room where he comfortably settled into his bed and quickly falling asleep, only to surprisingly reappear within his inner library and being asked by Miraak to follow him while they conversed.

"**I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done with your first day of training Issei" **said Miraak with a sense of pride he walked alongside Issei through the library. **"You performed phenomenal in your use of the marker. I can already tell that you will soon be able to fully master it after a little more training." **

Issei was surprised by his tenant's sudden praise but grinned with happiness nonetheless. "Gee thanks Miraak! I couldn't have done it without you! You're the first friend I've ever made!" he said with enthusiasm.

Miraak chuckled behind his mask for a minute before his voice reverted back to seriously. **"While I am proud that you were able to control the mark Issei, I'm afraid that is not the reason why I brought you back here. Since you are now able to get a good understanding of the mark, I believe it is time we advance to phase two of your training." **

Issei looked momentarily stunned by this declaration before looking up at his tenant. "What's phase two?" he asked in confusion.

Instead of giving him a straight answer, Miraak only took a quick glance down at the boy before facing forward. **"You will see"** he said.

The two continued to walk through the long and narrow hallways of the library for some time before they suddenly came up upon a large door that contained more carvings of the weird monsters that Issei had seen on the first door last night. Miraak walked up to it and, with a light touch of his fingers, the door split down the middle and slowly opened, revealing a large square room that was filed with even more books on each of the walls, but what made this room more interesting than the library was that the books kept expanding upwards the dark shadows and looked as though they went on forever.

Issei looked around the room in general confusion before looking back up at Miraak. "I don't get it, what is this place?" he asked.

Miraak, for his part, only stood still and silently looked forward before looking back down at the boy beside him. **"Tell me, Issei. Have you ever heard of something known as the Multiverse Theory?" **

Issei, now even more confused at the question, simply shook his head, prompting Miraak to continue. **"One of the reasons why the Great Old Ones, namely Azathoth, are much more powerful than the Gods of your Earth is because they were able to perform a feat that none of the Gods of the Earth could ever hope to perform. Inter-dimensional and Universal travel. The Multiverse Theory states that there are an infinite number of universes that are parallel to each other within the same plain of existence. Azathoth was able to use the energy stored within black holes known as Singularities, where all physical laws cease to exist, to travel to different universes and dimensions, as well as bring anything from that universe into another. Do you understand what I am telling you so far?"**

Issei just stood there in his spot while the gears in his brain felt like they were having a meltdown. He honestly didn't understand half of what Miraak was trying to tell him. It all sounded like something you would learn in high school. Not something a ten year old would ever want to hear.

"**I'll take your silence as a no" **said Miraak as he sighed. **"Basically what I am trying to explain Issei, is that when Azathoth gave a portion of his power to you, he gave you many more powers than that of the mark. Some of those powers are ones that I have no experience in. That is why we need someone who does have the experience with those powers, so that they can train you into using them."**

Finally understanding what Miraak was trying to tell him, Issei gave him another questioning look. "But I still don't understand why we are in this large room filled with more books."

Miraak once again, gave off a slight chuckle before answering. **"This room, Issei, contains every book that holds the history of every universe that Azathoth himself has placed within this section of the library. If we are going to start phase two of your training, we will need to summon someone who has contained the powers that you will soon be using."**

Issei widened his eyes in total shock after learning he would gain new powers before excitedly asking "What new powers do I get?"

"**I believe it is known as **_**Blacklight.**_**"**

Before Issei could even ask what that was, Miraak suddenly walked forward towards the furthest wall of room and pulled out a black book with a strange, red symbol on the cover before opening the book to a random page and setting it on the floor. He stepped back and brought both of his hands together, where a large swirling sphere that glowed a dark purple manifested itself and aimed it at the ground. He then reared both of his arms back and shot out the large sphere directly at the book that was laying on the floor before a large, glowing portal that was the same color as the sphere appeared directly on top of the book. Within a matter of seconds, a large shadow suddenly came out of the portal before setting itself on the book, where the portal soon disappeared along with the book and the shadows slowly fading away, where Issei was able to spot a tall human figure standing where the book used to be.

The figure appeared to be a human male that was a couple inches over six feet tall. He was wearing a black leather jacket with two white stripes located on each sleeve on top of a grey sweatshirt on top of a white, buttoned up shirt. He was also wearing a pair of dark blue jeans along with brown dress shoes. Though Issei couldn't really tell because of the grey hood the man was wearing, he was able to tell that the man appeared to be in his late twenties with peach colored skin.

The man put one hand under his hood and on his forehead and slightly groaned due to his sudden disorientation. "Ugh… where the hell am I-" he suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and quickly shook his head free of the dizziness before looking forward and was surprised to see a guy dressed Ina long black robe on top of some weird golden armor and wearing a mask that looked like it had tentacles on it. He was more surprised to see a little boy with brown hair wearing a t-shirt and shorts standing next to the armored man. Narrowing his eyes, the man sent a suspicious glare towards the two before speaking.

"Who the hell are you two?" he asked in a low, threatening tone. He did a quick look over at his surroundings before setting his eyes back on the two. "And where the hell am I?" he demanded, his threatening tone not once wavering.

Issei took a step back in slight fear from the man's tone of voice before Miraak gently placed his hand on his shoulder before taking a step forward.

"**Welcome back to the world of the living. **_**Alex Mercer."**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Virus within**

"**Welcome back to the land of the living. Alex Mercer"**

The newly named Alex Mercer, widened his eyes in shock as the armored man spoke his name. As far as he knew, this didn't look anything like hell or any other version of the afterlife. In fact, it looked like some sort of huge library. And that armored guy sure didn't look anything like the devil. Plus there was a ten year old boy that was standing right next to him so there was no way this could have been hell. But Alex knew more than anyone else that looks can be _very_ deceiving.

With a snarl and a glare that could burn through steel, Alex raised both of his arms where they were suddenly surrounded by a swirling mass of red and black tendrils. The tendrils on his right arm extended and became longer until they took the form of a long, four foot steel blade with red and black veins growing out of the center and connecting to Alex's right shoulder. The tendrils on his left arm swirled more around his hand and extended his fingers where it was soon replaced by a large claw, with each of the fingers now being a foot long steel blade. Black and red tendril veins were also coming out of the center of the claw and connected all the way up to Alex's left shoulder.

"I'm not going to ask you again" he said dangerously as he pointed the four foot blade at the duo in front of him. "Where the **hell** am I and who the _**hell**_ are you two?"

Issei was now fully trembling and took shelter behind Miraak as he stared with wide and shocked eyes at the man's sudden shape shifting. How was he able to turn his arms into giant blades and claws? Was this the new power that Miraak said he was going to learn? And did that mean that _**this guy**_ was supposed to teach him? This random guy who looked like he could rip an entire army to pieces? Issei was silently praying that that wouldn't be the case.

"**Please calm yourself Alex Mercer"** Issei heard Miraak speak in front of him while he lifted his hand in a calming gesture towards Alex. **"We mean you no harm. I merely brought you back from the dead so you could help us." **

Alex however, didn't buy it and continued to glare at the two, now more specifically at the armored man, while he keeping his blade pointed towards them. "And why should I believe anything you say? How do I know there isn't some blood red face with pointed ears and horns grinning bloody-murder at me behind that mask of yours, just waiting for me to drop my guard so you can rip my soul out of my body? And just how do you know I'm even dead in the first place?" he asked with a low growl.

Using his super enhanced hearing, Alex was able to hear what sounded like a scoff from behind the man's mask, which in return only made Alex glare harder. **"I can assure you Mr. Mercer that I am not a devil, no will I ever be one of those vile and despicable creatures. And I know that you are dead because you were slain by another who contained the same virus as you do. The one know as **_**James Heller.**_**" **

Now Alex's eyes were fully widened in complete shock. How had he known about that? The last thing he remembered was Heller ripping both of his arms off before using his claws to rip him to shreds and consuming his body. The rest was just complete and utter darkness before he somehow ended up here in a giant room surrounded by books while standing in front of this weird armored guy and a kid he had never seen before.

"**I also know about the Blacklight virus and how you were the cause of the first and second outbreak. Along with Gentek, Blackwatch, Elizabeth Greene, PARIAH, the Evolved, your sister Dana, and you murdering James Heller's wife along while kidnapping his only daughter to turn her into one of your Evolved in order to, in your own words, 'Become the Mother of the New World'." **

By now, Alex was completely hob smacked as the man finished listing each and every one of the situations her had been in, and he remembered them all as clear as day. When he first broke the vial the contained the virus in the middle of Penn Station while being shot at by a dozen Blackwatch soldiers, effectively turning him into what he was now, how Elizabeth Greene turned into that giant monster and almost wrecked half of New York Square if it wasn't for him ripping her to shreds, how he used the Whitelight cure in order to build himself an army of Evolved and turn the world into something new, and of course, being murdered and consumed by Heller. Oh yes, he remembered them all.

Very slowly, Alex lowered his laden arm down to the ground but still kept his arms transformed. He was no longer glaring but still had his eyes narrowed in strict suspicion. "Just who the hell are you?" he finally asked, getting annoyed by having to repeat the question.

Even though Alex couldn't see it, Miraak smiled behind his mask.** "I am known as Miraak. And I am the guardian of Hermaeus Mora's library, which is the place you are currently in, and not located within any of the three plains of the afterlife. As for the reason why you are here, it is as I have stated before. I brought you back so that you could help us."**

"Oh yeah?" Alex asked as he continued to glare at the man named Miraak. "And what exactly am I supposed to _'help' _you with?"

Instead of answering, Miraak took a single step to the side to reveal the brown haired kid that had been hiding behind him, which momentarily surprised Alex, he had been so focused on getting answers out of Miraak that he had completely forgotten about the kid. Before Alex could ask, Miraak decided to explain.

"**This boy's name is Issei Hyoudou" **he said pointing at the kid, who was slightly trembling under Alex's dark gaze. **"You see Mr. Mercer, this boy holds a great power within him. Far greater than the Blacklight virus and my own power combined. He was bestowed the power during his birth by a god known as Azathoth. By receiving this power, he was also able to gain numerous abilities that far exceed anything you and I have ever seen before. With enough training and concentration, he would be strong enough to match, or even surpass the power of a god. It just so happens that one of the abilities he had gained was that exact same as that of the Blacklight virus that you hold within you. But to master it, he needs training. I would do it myself, except I do not have any knowledge of the ability. That is why I have brought you back from the realm of the dead, so that you could hopefully train the boy in using his abilities." **

Alex gave a long, hard look at Miraak before settling his eyes back on the kid known as Issei Hyoudou, who continued to fidget under the man's dark gaze, which only made Alex scoff in disbelief. This kid was supposed to have the power to surpass a god? He barely looked like he could hold himself in a fist fight with another kid his own age, let alone have the ability to match a god. The whole thing sounded like some wild fairy tale anyway. Sure he had his fair share of weird and unbelievable tales but this sounded like it was pulled straight out of some cheap comic book found in a gaming store. It all sounded too farfetched.

Still, the weird armored guy in the octopus mask had somehow been able to bring him back from the brink of damnation. And that was something that had always been myth or a legend back in the real world. Except they would become crazy rotting, bat-shit insane zombies that would always end up tearing your skin off with their black and yellow teeth. And that was something he practically saw every day back in New York when the virus was unleashed. There wasn't a single alleyway in the entire city you could walk into and wouldn't see about ten, heavily-mutated civilians ripping a soldier limb from limb. Though he couldn't say he didn't do the same thing to a few soldiers AND infected with his blade and claws. A single day didn't go by when he wasn't spilling at least a hundred gallons of blood every two hours.

But the impossible seemed to happen as he was now here, standing in front of some knight from the middle ages and timid ten year-old, being asked to train the kid in the same powers he had that he apparently somehow gotten from a god that Alex had never even heard of when he wasn't even a day old. As crazy and unbelievable as it sounded, he suppose he didn't have much of a choice since he didn't really want to go back to being dead. Plus it might seem a bit interesting to learn what kind of world he just so happened to pop up in.

After a couple quick minutes of staring at the kid, Alex gave out a long sigh and a shake of his head before reverting his arms back to normal and putting them into his jean pockets. "I guess I don't have much of a choice do I? Hmph. Fine. I'll help the kid with his new powers. But I expect more answers when doing so. I'd at least like to know wherever the hell it is that I was brought to." he said in a deep and serious tone while narrowing his eyes back at Miraak.

"**Excellent. I will do as best as I can to inform you on everything about this world while you are training Issei. But I'm afraid there is one more thing that I request of you. In order for Issei to unlock his Blacklight abilities, he will need a portion of it in his blood so that it can be awakened. I am aware of how you were able to transform the people of your world into Evolved, and I will need you to do the exact same to Issei here."**

Alex lifted a single eyebrow at Miraak before asking "You want me to turn the kid into an Evolved? You sure he can handle it?"

Miraak gave him a firm nod. **"Believe me when I say that he has been through a tremendously painful past. So much that he is basically used to it by now. I have also given him something that makes his skin more reduced to injuries, as well as faster healing capabilities."**

Alex starred at him for a few seconds longer before giving off a single shrug of his shoulder. "Faire enough" he said before he began walking towards Issei, he quickly took a few steps back.

"W-Wait, I don't get it. What's he going to do?" he fearfully asked as he looked back up at Miraak for an answer, the latter simply just folded his arms while looking at Issei through his mask.

"**Calm yourself Issei, there is nothing to fear. All Mr. Mercer is going to do is help awaken your abilities, nothing more."**

"Yeah, what he said." Said Alex as he knelt down on one knee right in front of Issei and put a hand on his shoulder. His other arm suddenly began swirling in a mass of tendrils before his hand was replaced by a large claw. "Oh, and if what the knight of the round table over there said about your skin being more resistant and heeling faster, then this may or may not hurt like a bitch." And before Issei got even a chance to speak, Alex plunged the entire claw straight into Issei's chest.

"AAAAHHHHH!" screamed Issei at the top of his lungs and the sharp claws dug their way through the flesh of his chest. It felt as if over a thousand, piercing hot knives were literally digging into his entire body at once. It hurt so much just to breathe that he thought all of the oxygen was replaced with pure fire. Suddenly, the tendrils around the claw started burrowing their way into his open wounds. Deep with inside is chest, a black and reddish liquid came out from the tip of the claws blades and flowed into his veins and arteries along with his blood.

It must have felt like an eternity for Issei before tendrils disappeared and the claws were quickly ripped from his chest, the immense burning pain in his ribcage subsided within a second. Issei toppled over onto all for directly on the four and inhaled as much of the fresh and cool oxygen that his lungs could carry. Never in his entire life had Issei ever experienced that much pain in a single minute. It made all the beatings he got from the bullies feel like getting slapped with a feather.

As soon as Issei was done exhaling a mile a minute, he quickly shot up to his feet while glaring at both Alex and Miraak. "What the heck was that!?" he shouted at them.

"Hey, don't get pissed at me. I told you it was gonna hurt like a bitch." Alex said with an emotionless face before shrugging, as if the whole thing wasn't a big deal.

"You could've at least given me a longer heads up! Or actually tell me what you were gonna do!"

Alex gave him a slight glare in annoyance. "If I did you would've hightailed it out of here before I would even have a chance to move."

"Well who wouldn't!? You put a freaking CLAW in my chest!"

Alex now glared at him in anger. "You're really starting to piss me off kid." He said in a low growl.

Issei, who suddenly had his mouth shut because of Alex's glare and tone of voice, simple mumbled a silent 'sorry' before looking down at the ground.

"**Now now, we are not here to fight" **stated Miraak calmly as he got in between the two. **"Now that Issei has awakened his Blacklight abilities, we can begin with his training."** He said before looking down at Issei. **"Issei, when you wake up tomorrow I want you to go to the exact same place you went to yesterday. And make sure you aren't followed."**

Issei, still looking at the ground with his hands behind his back, gave a simple quiet nod and turned around to leave. But not before taking a quick moment to stop and glance back at Alex. "Sorry Mr. Alex" he said sadly.

Alex, for his part, softened his eyes underneath his hood for a fraction of a second before reverting back to his usual scowl. "Hmph, whatever kid." He said, though not in anger but in slight annoyance as he watched Issei disappear behind a large set of double doors.

"**He is a special child you know" **Said a nearby voice that snapped Alex out of his thoughts and glanced over to see Miraak staring at him through his mask with his arms crossed. **"He may not be the brightest, or the most intelligent. But he is special nonetheless, and has a kind heart. You would do well to treat him as such."**

Instead of glaring or growling in anger, Alex simply made a slight scoff before looking away and crossing his own arms. "Just because I agreed to help the kid doesn't mean I'll go soft on him. That's not my thing. And you still owe me answers so don't expect me to act all friendly towards you either. I'd still like to know where the hell I am." He grumbled before looking back at the door and setting his gaze into an emotionless one. "But I will admit, the kids' got guts. And you were right about his past. I mean it wasn't as fucked up as mine, but still pretty fucked up. If I was him I would've ripped that asshole of a teacher's jaw off and used it to beat those other kids into the cement."

Miraak raised a surprised eyebrow behind his mask. **"You witnessed his memories?" **he asked.

"Yep. One of the perks about the Backlight virus. Happened when I was feeding it to him. I've seen more fucked up shit than you could probably imagine, but I still don't like the idea of watching someone get molested through their own eyes."

Miraak nodded his head in agreement. **"Indeed. To have go through such a traumatic experience at such a young age is something no child should ever have to do." **

"We all have our skeletons in our closet Mir'. Some that are even worse than others. But we can't spend the rest of our lives living in fear. At one point or another, we'll all have to face our inner demons. Something I should've done when I was still alive, but unfortunately mine were too strong to control, and eventually turned me into one of them. Plus, the kid kinda reminds me of myself. Back when I was…" he said before he looked at the ground.

Because of the hood covering his face, Miraak wasn't able to see his expression or tell what he was feeling, but he sensed it was something along the lines of guilt, regret, and shame. **"Back when you were what, Alex Mercer?" **he asked.

Alex continued to silently stare at the ground for a few minutes before turning his head and looking back up at Miraak with a small frown. "When I was still human."

* * *

_**Nearby forest located near Hyoudou Residence, six hours later**_

Just as Miraak had instructed him, Issei had once again made his way towards the field that was located in the middle of the forest. After informing his parents that he would be out 'exploring' again and having to promise them that he'd be back by afternoon for lunch, he ate another quick breakfast before bolting out of the house and occasionally checking behind him to once again make sure that he wasn't followed. When he was far enough out of range, Issei had decided to take a shortcut and activated his mark where he Blinked on top of the nearby trees and teleported his whole way there. He also mentally debated on whether or not he should possess a bird and fly there but remembering what occurred the day before immediately squashed the thought and simple settled for just teleporting. Not that he hated it or anything.

As he reached the top of the last tree, Issei activated his mark and teleported to the middle of the field before doing a quick couple of warm-up stretches before starting his training. In all honesty, he was very excited to be learning even more cool new powers, especially ones that let you turn your arms into giant knives and claws. He couldn't wait to see what Alex had to teach him.

'_Alright Miraak I'm here. What's the first step?' _he mentally asked with hidden eagerness.

There was a few short minutes of silence before a deep voice penetrated his thoughts. _**[Hey kid, it's me Alex. Apparently your other friend in here was somehow able to get me a connection through your mind so I'll be telling you what to do from inside your head. And make sure you pay close attention 'cause I'm only going to explain this once.] **_

Issei was surprised at suddenly hearing Alex's voice from his subconscious before breaking out of his thought and focusing his attention back on Alex. _'Um… okay Mr. Alex. So what are we going to do first?' _he asked.

_**[First of all, it's just Alex so drop the formalities. Second thing is that I'm going to need to explain a few things from you. According to Sir Knight of the Round in here, since your so called, 'enormous amount of energy' has been mixed with the Blacklight virus, you technically already have all of its abilities so you won't need to consume people just to get them like I had to. So yeah, lucky you. Also not only does the Blacklight virus allow you to shape shift your body, but it also gives you permanent boosts in your strength and speed, as well as infinite stamina, permanent immunity to all diseases and poisons, and zero fall damage whatsoever. Basically you could jump off of a one hundred stories building and land feet-first into the found without a parachute and you wouldn't get a single scratch on you.]**_

It took Issei all of his willpower not to shriek and continuously jump in the air for joy after Alex had given his entire speech. Falling from a one hundred story building and surviving along with never getting sick? He had fallen in love with the virus already.

But while he was busy not trying to get excited, something that Alex had said early had put a question in Issei's head. _'Hey Alex? What did you mean by consume people? Does that mean that you ate them?' _

Issei wasn't sure but he could've sworn he heard growling inside of his head. _**[Ughhh, No! Shit why does everyone keep saying that!? I ABSORBED the biomass that was in their bodies and fused it with my own! So that I could heal and get more abilities! I mean seriously, what the fuck? Consume doesn't just mean eat you know!"]**_

"…"

_**[Anyway, let's just get this thing over with. Why don't you use some of that 'inner energy' I've heard about and use it to shape shift your arms into some kind of weapon. Like, I don't know, my blade arm for example. Try using your energy to control the tendrils to transform your arm into a blade.] **_

Issei, still slightly confused on what to do, simply gave off a nod in understanding before bringing up his arm and tried imagining his arm turning into a giant blade like he saw with Alex. At first nothing happened, and he was about to inform Alex that it didn't work until his arm was suddenly encased in a swirl of black tendrils. They sprouted and grew to about a length of four feet until his entire arm was replaced by a large blade that looked almost like a meat cleaver. And just like he had seen with Alex's blade, the upper part of his own blade was covered in a mass of large black and green veins that extend all the way up to his upper shoulder.

_**[Not bad kid. Looks almost like the one Heller had. Why don't you take for a test swing?]**_

Eager to test out his new weapon, Issei walked over to one of the nearby trees, extended his arm and turned it to the side where the sharp blade was facing toward the trunk of the tree. With a swift swing of his arm, Issei swiped the blade at the tree with intense force and widened his eyes in shock when the blade cut cleanly through the trunk of the thick tree, which toppled over to the ground in the opposite direction about a second later.

Issei for his part, simply stood frozen in his place until he let out a loud yelp of excitement and started jumping and dancing with joy written all over his face. "That was awesome!" he yelled as he continued jumping, only for a thought to appear in his head a minute later. _'Umm, Alex? How do I change my arm back?' _he asked his other tenant.

_**[Just do what you did before, only the opposite. Just use your energy to reverse the tendril growth and your arm will turn back to normal.]**_

Issei nodded and used the energy to direct the tendrils. A minute later, he sighed in relief as the tendrils slowly started to shrink back into his skin until he was left with his normal human arm.

_**[Now that you know how to shift your arms into weapons I won't need to explain the others. Now for some of the easy stuff. I want you to get down in a jumping position while building up the tendrils and charging them into your legs. Once you do that I'll tell you what to do next.] **_

Confused, Issei did as he was instructed and crouched his knees down into a jumping position as he started charging the tendrils into his feet. Once he felt that he was fully charged, he contacted Alex. _'Okay Alex I'm ready. What do I do now?' _

_**[Simple. Jump] **_

Once again confused, Issei gave off a slight shrug before complying with his request.

Until he was suddenly flung over twenty feet into the air.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed as began falling towards the ground. As the ground came closer, Issei shut his eyes tightly and brought his arms in front of him in a protective manner to brace for the impact. But all he felt was a light _'BUMP'_ throughout his entire body and a loud _'CRACK' _that rang all around him.

Very slowly, Issei opened his eyes and saw that he was laying on his side within a small hole of dirt. He shakily brought himself off the ground and widened his eyes when he saw that he had landed in a crater right in the middle of the field. _'What the heck happened? _He thought in wonder. _'This wasn't here before'_

_**[Idiot, you made that. Happened right after you fell from the sky.] **_Alex said from within his mind.

This only seemed to shock Issei even more. _'But how did I even do that in the first place?'_ he asked.

_**[Two more perks of the Backlight, jumping at high altitudes while taking no falling damage whatsoever. As I said before, you could fall from a hundred stories building and not even get a scratch.] **_

Issei's face practically lit up with excitement. _'That's pretty awesome!'_ he exclaimed.

_**[Yeah, no shit. Anyway kid, since you already got a basic idea of how the virus works I suggest you spend some time practicing with it. Go jump around, run like motherfucker, cut some trees down, I don't care. Just make sure you practice." **_

For the rest of the day, Issei spent some of his time doing practice swings with his blade while trying to see if he could reach farther heights with his super jumping. He was also surprised, yet excited to find out that he could use his tendrils to sprint at speeds equal to that of a racecar. Even though he had no need to run because of already having teleportation, he still found it extremely useful to have if for some reason he couldn't use his Blinking. He was also able to transform his hands into his own set of claws, which looked exactly the same as Alex's only the red veins that he had connecting to his shoulders were a dark green instead of red. And just like he promised his parents, Issei had made his way back to his house for a quick lunch before heading back out into the forest where he spent the rest of the day training with the virus as well as his mark.

The sun was once again in its setting state and Issei had to stifle a yawn as he just got done cutting another tree down with his blade. He had tried as hard as he could to restrain himself so he wouldn't cut that many trees down but it was just too fun! It wasn't every day you were infected with a virus that could turn your arms into giant knives. Luckily he was able to have some self-control and only ended cutting down about five trees.

With another stifled yawn, Issei transformed his arm back to normal and made his way back to his home, hoping to once again get another good night's rest.

* * *

_**Issei's subconscious, seven hours later **_

"**I must say Issei, you never fail to impress me" **spoke Miraak with pride as he patted Issei on the shoulder.

"Hmph. It was only one day of practice. Not like he accomplished anything that important. But I guess you did good kid" said Alex with a smirk and his arms crossed.

Issei blushed a little at the sudden praise from his two tenants but soon changed it into a smile of gratitude. "Thanks guys"

"**And just think that in a matter of years, you will be as strong as any god of this world"**

"I still find it highly unlikely that he'll match up to the power of a god, but the kid will kick some ass, that's for sure." Said Alex.

"You bet I will! I can't wait to see the look on those other kids' faces when they see me now!" yelled Issei with half of a sadistic grin on his face, which suddenly morphed into an expression of fatigue as he took a long yawn before rubbing his eyes. "Well I'm beat. I think I'm going to go head back to bed guys, see ya." He said before he transmitted out of his mind.

The two remnants of Issei's mind stood there in silence and stared at the place Issei transmitted away from before Miraak looked back up at Alex.

"**It appears that we are not the only ones who reside within Issei's mind."**

Alex looked back up at Miraak in surprise before narrowing his eyes at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"**While you were teaching Issei about the Backlight I was able to sense a faint energy source that came from deeper within Issei's mind. As I continued to monitoring it, I was not only able to deduce that it has a vast amount of energy, but that it has also resided within Issei's mind ever since he was born. It's strange how I was only able to locate it just now…"**

"Well, do you know exactly what who or what it is that's setting it off? And exactly where it is exactly?"

"**Judging from the large power scourge it is defiantly not human. It feels like it is more beast-like. Yet its power is very controlled. And as I have said before, it is located within the deeper levels of Issei's mind. Lucky for us, I happen to know exactly how to get there. Just follow me." **Miraak said as he started walking towards the back of the library.

With nothing else to do, Alex merely gave off a shrug and followed the inner knight through the long maze of endless bookshelves. After about ten minutes of walking, and finally to Alex's relief, they reached a large door that was in the far back of the library that contained even more carvings. When Miraak opened the door, they saw that there was nothing on the other side except an endless dark room that held a long flight of stairs that dropped down into the darkness below. The two occupants of Issei's mind looked at one another before giving each other a full nod and started descending down the stairs, ever to see what awaited below.

* * *

_**Lower levels of Issei's subconscious **_

"No fucking way, is that what I think it is?" asked Alex with disbelief written all over his face.

"**I believe it is Mr. Mercer. And I have to say it has been a long time since I have seen one of these." **

Neither men could honestly say they weren't shocked at seeing what resided within Issei's mind. Alex more so then Miraak. Said Prototype just shook his head in exasperation.

"And here I thought I've seen everything. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised anymore."

_**{So, you two are residents of my hosts' mind as well?} **_boomed a deep voice from in front of them. The lasted simply looked up and stared at the being in front of them.

"**Host?" **asked Miraak.

_**{The one known as Issei Hyoudou} **_

"So you've also been stuck inside the kid's head? And ever since he was born?" asked Alex.

_**{That is correct. I was the original source of the boy's power. Though it seems he has gained something else as well}**_

"**You are also correct. He has been bestowed upon the power of Azathoth, The Blind Idiot God. A power that he could easily use to match or surpass any god of this earth with enough training." **

_**{Surpass a God? He's that powerful?}**_

"**Indeed he is. And with your help, it his power could be even more." **

_**{Hmm… As fun as that may sound, I'm afraid it is not yet time to reveal myself to Issei. Until he reaches a certain age, I am forced to remain dormant within his mind.}**_

"**That is a shame indeed. I am sure that your power would have been a great asset in his training." **

The being gave off a low chuckle before speaking. _**{Don't worry, I know that Issei will do just fine without me. He is more special than any of the previous hosts I have had after all. And when the time comes that I may reveal myself, he'll be even more interesting. But until that time comes, I must remain here within his subconscious. So until we meet again, farewell tenants of Issei Hyoudou.} **_

And with that, the third being that occupied Issei Hyoudou's mind disappeared into the darkness, once again leaving the other two to silently stand in their places while contemplating with their own thoughts. It seems that Issei Hyoudou has gained even more power than originally intended, which means that he will be just as dangerous in the future as well. The two tenants of Issei's mind had no idea what would happen in the future, only that they seemed to share one common thought.

Gods help anyone who crossed the path of Issei Hyoudou.

With another long, exasperated sigh, Alex rubbed his forehead before looking back at Miraak, who had his arms crossed and seemed to be within his own thoughts.

"Things are going to get a lot a lot more fucked up from now on aren't they?" he asked. Miraak for his part, simply just stood with his arms crossed and continued to silently ponder his thoughts before staring at Alex through his mask.

"**Indeed. The future is definitely about to change. But for better or for worse, I cannot say. The only one who can create forge those paths are Issei Hyoudou himself. But either way, I sense that things are about to get a lot more interesting from now on."**


	5. Chapter 5

_**( ) = Miraak telekinetic speech **_

_**[ ] = Alex telekinetic speech **_

**Chapter Five: The Supernatural **

_**Center of the Universe, Space **_

The Blind Idiot God hummed its thousand mouths all at once in deep meditation as it floated within the center of its galaxy as well as the entire Universe. It had been many years since the Great Old One had siphoned off a portion of its power and sent it billions of light years through the endless vacuum and towards the human planet of Earth where it was soon transmitted into the newly born human boy. Ever since then, it had been monitoring the boy's progress and it could already sense the energy stored within him continuously growing. It seems that Miraak had been successful in training the boy to use his abilities. The God was momentarily surprised when it had been able to sense another faint energy source that had also been sealed within the boy, just as long as the God's own power had been sealed.

The God also knew that the Supernatural had taken notice of the boy's power and would soon try to get him to join their side, either by cooperation or by force. If it could, the God would have twitched its thousand mouths into that of a scoff. Like any of those creatures could ever make the boy do anything. He was far too powerful and would be more than able to wipe those pathetic beings off the face of the planter with just the blink of his eyes. Though the God did find them useless and weak, he couldn't exactly disagree that he wasn't interested in seeing which of the factions the boy would be joining. If he was even willing to join either side at all that is. But whether he did join or remained neutral didn't matter at all to the God. He was simply watching the boy to see how he would affect the outcome of the Earth's future. Even for all powerful Great Old One that was capable of traversing the plain of infinite universes and dimensions, he still was not able to predict the future. He had been to thousands upon thousands of universes, each and every one bearing someone of something that had peeked his interest and silently watched from a great distance how they affected the outcome of those universes. Occasionally adding in his own "help from the sidelines" as the people of Earth called it, just to make things more interesting.

He had actually been thankful that he couldn't predict the future like some Gods had in the other universes. To him it was only an annoyance. Being able to see what happens before it even occurs was something he had no interest in using. It was just something that would take all of the fun out of watching the different situations in the other realities. After all, what would be the point of watching them at all if you already knew what was going to happen?

Azathoth continued to silently float within the center of the Universe until he soon took notice of a large black mass of fog that seemed to materialize out of nowhere right next to him. Like the God, the fog only seemed to float out of its black center and disappearing into the void of space. It then started to slowly fade away until the mass of fog was fully replaced by a large, grotesque creature that was about a fourth of Azathoth's size. Its entire upper body was completely covered with what looked like large brown tree roots while its lower body was composed of pulsating black pustlues along with two colossal-sized eyeballs that were at the opposite ends of the creature's body and a large mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Another mouth could be seen at its far left side under one of its large eyeballs. Tentacles that were covered in hair along with some that held claws at their ends could also be seen surrounding the lower half of the creature's body.

Azathoth set his thousand eyes on the creature with a vague look of surprise. Said creature, simply stared back at him with its own two eyes that held no sense of emotion.

"_**Ya suu t'at Ta ar mihn'ar li goff's pogurni, Lo'r Azathoth" (I see that you are monitoring the child's progress, Lord Azathoth).**_ The creature spoke in light, chilling voice that sounded vaguely feminine.

Azathoth continued to stare at the creature with his thousand dark eyes in silence before he started speaking.

"_**Sa ha be'n ah loo'n tolm, Shub-Niggurath"**__**(It has been a long time, Shub-Niggurath).**_

Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young or Lord of the Wood, gazed at Azathoth with her own set of black eyes as she floated alongside him within the center of the Universe. It had indeed been a very long time since she had spoken to her Master, much less seen him. He had always been busy occupying his time by traveling to the other infinite realities that she couldn't even remember the last time that had spoke, if she even had a memory in the deep and black abyss that was her mind. But she honestly couldn't blame him either. Being a Great Old One herself, she too had always been preoccupied, especially when it came to caring for her thousands of offspring.

"_**Indui'd ha be'n mu Lo'r. Hul de li liffle huma'ne?" (Indeed it has been my Lord. How is the little human?) **_Shub asked with a small hint of curiosity in her voice.

"_**Te de pogurni'ng wul. Sa se'ms Miraak ha d'ne h'is johb. Evn' afmar al tese e'ars, li bo de contumon ot gow sting'la." (He is progressing well. It seems that Miraak has done his job. Even after all these years, the boy is continuing to grow stronger.)**_

"_**Ye't, evn' froom E'art Ya con sti'l soon'se hum froom he'r. Te de a'n ingress'ing von indui'd." (Yes, even from Earth I can still sense him from here. He is an interesting one indeed.)**_ Shub agreed.

"_**Hm'mph, wa't a supri'se. Noover tough't Ta wuld sho' uny ingress un un'myty, Shub-Niggurath." (Hmph, what a surprise. Never thought you would show any interest in anything, Shub-Niggurath.)**_ Spoke a deep echoing voice from out of nowhere.

The two Great Old Ones turned to see another massive creature about the same size as Shub-Niggurath, except its body was a bright yellow and was composed entirely of out tentacles that floated lifelessly within space. Within a large dome on top of its body that was assumed to be its head, you could vaguely make out two blood-red eyes that peered through a thick sheet of tentacles.

As soon as she saw it, Shub twitched her eyes and mouths into that of large scowl. _**"Weh ar' ta does'ing har…Yog-Sothoth?" (What**_ _**are you doing here…Yog-Sothoth?) **_Shub spoke with anger and annoyance etching into her cold voice.

Yog-Sothoth, Lurker at the Threshold and grandson of Azathoth as well as former mate of Shub-Niggurath, made a deep grunt behind his tentacles into that of a scoff before speaking. _**"Li sam' reston Ta ar' Shub. Ot spo'ake fo li goff' t'at grund'fither ha's chwosen ot wuld hi's piw'r. Ta ar' neo't Li ony von'e ot sin'k ti." (The same reason you are Shub. To speak of the child that grandfather has chosen to wield his power. You are not the only one to sense it.) **_

If Shub had any, she would have raised an eyebrow at her former mate's statement. _**"Li oter Godda' hav' tooken n'tice fo li goff' az wul?" (The other gods have taken notice as well?) **_she asked.

Yog gave a slight nod of his tentacle-encased head. _**"Li oher Grek Ohm Vunes, az wul az li Eltero und Otero Godda' hav' al sin'ked li goff's piw'r. Lik' ta et grund'fither, li oher godda' hav' expos'ed an intro'most un him, whul ohers wush ot foot hum ot pro'ove tier strungth." (The other Great Old Ones, as well as the Elder and Outer Gods have all sensed the child's power. Like you and grandfather, the other gods have all expressed an interest in him while others wish to fight him to prove their strength.) **_

"_**Ta wul 'til t'hem tat li goff' de ot remooned unhimed." (You will tell them that the child is to remained unharmed) **_Azathoth interjected. _**"Te de no't rod'y ot fuse an Eltero Godda', nor de te unyver ner' rod'y ot fuse a Greek Ohm Vune." (He is not ready to face an Elder God. Nor is he anywhere near ready to face a Great Old One).**_He said and was about to speak again until he suddenly stopped all movement around his entire body for a few moments before he looked at the two other Old Ones. _**"Ah, ha se'ms li tome ha's comm'." (Ah, it seems the time has come.)**_

"_**Ha appe'ars os." (It appears so). **_Said Shub in agreement. _**"Li Ea'rt's sip'rnontra ar' fik'nolly makkin'g ther' mov." (The Earth's supernatural are finally making their move.)**_

* * *

_**Kuoh Academy, City of Kyoto, seven years later**_

The cold moist wind breezed through the morning air as the sun shined its rays all throughout the city. The adults drove their cars on the town's busy road ways, making their way towards their various jobs as the kids walked hand-in-hand with their parents towards their respective schools. It was a cool Monday morning and all over the local town, people could be seen going on with their weekly businesses with smiles on their faces, or the half-lidded look of fatigue that adorned their eyes after having to wake up early from their natural beauty sleep that they all so craved. Everything was as humanely normal as it could possibly get. Not a single thing or person seemed to be out of place in this seemingly normal city. All except for one in particular school that was located in one of the town's vast neighborhoods.

Kuoh Academy was (and still is) seen as one of the most prestigious high schools in all of Kyoto. It stood at a height of over three stories with a layer of thick brown surrounding its walls and numerous white columns that were spread all along its bottom half. On the left and right sides of the main building were two other separate parts of the school that were also of prestigious design. Behind the three buildings was a large field were the track and numerous courts were located where the students would spend their time playing their various activities and sports. In front of the school's main building was a well-built stone path that lead from inside the school to the front gate that was in the middle of a large brick wall that separated the nearby neighborhood from the academy's grounds.

Everywhere you looked, students could be seen happily walking from their respective homes, seemingly enjoying the bright early morning weather, and into the academy to start another week of their usual classes. Most of the students consisted of females, due to Kuoh Academy once being an all-girls school until it was recently transformed into co-ed, where the school's overall population quickly grew to about forty percent in the male department (most of which only attending because of the high female population).

Located at the front of the academy's main gate was a single male teen of average height and semi-large build. He had a full head of dark brown hair with bangs that reached down to his eyes and lightly tanned skin. He wore the customary Kuoh Academy uniform for males, which consisted of a black blazer with skinny sleeves that showed off a bit of his muscles underneath, on top of a white, buttoned up, collared short-sleeved shirt adorned with black vertical lines, which was on top of his own shirt that was blood-red, black slacks and a pair of black leather dress shoes.

The teen was currently observing the school's main building with his deep dark greenish purple eyes that were set into half-lids and a small toothy grin that was placed on his lips while partially showing a couple of razor sharp teeth that were on the inside of his mouth. _'So this is Kuoh Academy'_ the teen silently thought to himself with a small amount of curiosity. _'Not really what I was expecting. But I guess it's better than nothing.'_

_**(Don't let appearances cloud your judgment Issei)**_ spoke a deep voice from inside his mind. _**(Though this may seem like a normal human school, I sense a fair amount of supernatural anomalies here. Make sure to be on your guard) **_

_**[I agree with Sir Lancelot here, too kid] **_spoke another voice from within his mind. This one's tone sounding almost gravel. _**[This place reeks of some weird shit. Better get ready to make some heads roll in case shit hits the fan] **_

The teen continued grinning as he listened to his two inner tenants. _'Thanks for the advice Miraak, Alex. I'll be sure to keep my eyes open. And kick some ass if need be.' _

_**(That's the spirit Issei. And make sure you put all of that training to good use. I am eager to see how far you have advanced)**_ Miraak said with a hint of pride and eagerness in his voice.

_**[Yeah kid. We didn't waste seven years of our lives just to see you fuck up on your first try] **_spoke Alex with his usual tone of annoyance.

'_Heh. Don't worry Alex. I'm not the one who'll end up dead if anything happens. You can count on that.' _He assured his tenant. Just when he was about to speak again, the sound of the school's morning bell rung throughout the entire campus. Signaling the beginning of class. _'Well, it looks like school's starting. I'll talk to you guys later__**.' **_

_**(Be careful Issei) **_said Miraak.

_**[Give 'em hell kid] **_said Alex.

With a grin still plastering his lips, Issei stepped through the front gate and into the school's courtyard. Any remaining students that did not yet enter the academy stopped dead in their tracks and stared wide eyed at the new student who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and in the middle of the school year no less. The girls stared at him as he walked by and quickly looked away while giggling madly with blushes on their faces at the sight of the handsome muscled boy while the guys looked at him with questioning glances and a few angry glares of jealously.

"Hey, who is that guy?"

"Is he a new student?"

"He looks kind of creepy. Especially with those weird eyes, and that crazy grin."

"Are you serious? He's freaking hot! Just look at those arms!"

"I just hope he's not a pervert like those other two idiots."

Issei ignored the various whispers coming from the other students and made his way inside of the main building where even more students stopped and turned to look at him while whispering to each other. Continuing to ignore them, he stopped in the middle of a hallway to reach into his pocket and pull out his class schedule. With a quick look at the paper, Issei glanced in all directions before putting his schedule back into his pocket before continuing to walk down the hallway.

He failed to notice that from above the second floor stairs he was being watched by a girl who looked to be about a year older than him with long blood-red hair that reached down to her thighs and an amply shaped hourglass figure that was covered by a Kuoh Academy girl's uniform. Her emerald green eyes narrowed as she watched Issei walk towards his class, which soon softened as a smile made its way on to her lips.

'_So this is our new student that I've been hearing so much about. Strange… his aura seems so mysterious. Yet I can sense something else entirely different within him. Something... dark, yet not entirely evil. I should definitely tell Sona about him. In the meantime, I'll be watching you Issei Hyoudou.'_

* * *

_KNOCK KNOCK_

The teacher paused in his early attendance taking as he walked towards the classroom door, opened it and smiled as he saw who was on the other side. He turned his attention towards the students, who had confused expressions on their faces.

"Class, we are going to be having a new student joining us today. So I want you all to remain quiet and respectfully behave as he introduces himself." The teacher then brought his attention back at the door. "You can come in now."

With a toothy grin, Issei hooded at the teacher and entered the classroom. As soon as he did, all the students quietly whispered amongst themselves. The girls, like in the hallway, began blushing up a storm at the sight of the handsome new teen, while most of the guys sent him angry and jealous glares. Issei however completely ignored their various reactions as he took a piece of chalk and wrote his name up on the classroom board. He then turned around and addressed himself to the entire class.

"Hello everybody, my name is Issei Hyoudou. I'm very excited to be a part of this school so I hope we can be friends." He said as he took a polite bow with the grin still on his face.

After hearing his soft spoken voice, all the girls began giggling and blushing even harder while the guys gained slightly nervous looks on their faces. Even though his voice sounded sincere, there was just something in it that unnerved them. And that weird grin that he had only made it worse. The teacher however, didn't seem to notice as he only smiled after Issei introduced himself.

"That was very well done Issei. Now, why don't you go take a seat in the free desk we have near the back."

Issei nodded to his teacher and walked towards the back of the classroom where he took a seat at free desk near the window. As the teacher resumed taking attendance, Issei took this time to look outside and reflect on past events. After he had finished his training with Alex and Miraak, Issei was once again confronted by the three bullies who had beat the hell out of him for most of his childhood. He was on his way home from school when the three boys had jumped him in a secluded spot from behind the building. Thinking he was still just a weak little kid, the three idiots actually had the nerve to try to hold him down and endlessly kick him again.

Issei couldn't keep the giddy smile off of his face as he remembered the shocked looks the three boys had on their faces when he suddenly grabbed one of them by the collar and threw them him into the wall, completely knocking him unconscious. He then delivered a quick uppercut to the second boy's jaw which in turn cracked and even broke a couple of his teeth while flying about five feet up into the air and landing on his back, knocking the wind right out of his lungs. The third boy, which was the leader, ended up cowering in a corner and begging to be let go. He had even tried apologizing for all the years of torment he had caused him. Issei however, wasn't having any of it. He grabbed him by his collar and brought him up right to his face where he glared menacingly at him with a sadistic smile on his lips and asked him one simple question; "Why should I show you mercy when you haven't done the same?"

Then one by one, Issei proceeded to use his immense strength to break both of the boy's arms and legs. In his entire life Issei hadn't ever heard anyone scream as loudly as the boy did. Issei had then firmly planted his foot on the boy's chest and glared angrily down at him as the boy stared back up at him with wide, teary eyes that were filled with absolute fear. Issei had threatened that if he and his friends had ever tried to pick on him, any other kid, or mention to anybody that he broke his limbs, that he would do even worse. With one last kick to the boy's face, Issei had made his way home wearing a satisfied smirk the entire way.

The next day the police had been able to find the three injured boys and had tried to find out who had attacked them, only to find out that the boys couldn't remember who it was that did. Since they all had injuries on their heads, the police assumed that they had suffered minor memory loss but had still tried to search for the attacker. Issei had laughed at how they would never be able to find out that it was him.

About a year later, Issei's parents had surprised him by saying that they were once again moving to a different city and that he would once again be transferring schools. He had never hugged his parents any tighter than he had that day and was practically beaming the entire way there. From then on, Issei was able to live a normal life all the way through middle school. No one had ever bullied him or tried to pick on him and was actually able to make a few friends in the process. One of them was a brown haired girl named Irina Shidou. A genuine smile appeared on Issei's lips as he remembered the many fun times they had together. Besides his parents, Irina was one of the few people that Issei had cared about the most. Sadly their fun times had to come to an end because she moved all the way to Italy. Due to her family being devout Christians, they had decided to further her religious education in the Vatican. But no matter how far apart they were from each other, they promised that they would always be friends no matter what.

After middle school, Issei had been spent one year in home schooling in order to get some extra practice in for high school since his last year had been a little rough due to his grades. But after that his parents had decided that he was ready and enrolled him as a second year in Kuoh Academy. The rest after that was history.

"Mr. Hyoudou" a sudden voice spoke up as Issei shook his head and looked up to see the teacher looking at him with a stern expression while the other students were staring at him with questioning glances. "Mr. Hyoudou, I know that today is your first day at a new school. But that doesn't give you a reason to not pay attention when I'm speaking. Now, would you be so kind as to answer the question on the board for us please?"

"U-Um yes Sensei. I'm sorry" Said Issei as he blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before getting up out of his seat and walking towards the front of the classroom. After carefully examining the question, Issei picked up the chalk and wrote down his answer before he placed it back down and walked back to his seat. The teacher looked at what his new student wrote down before lifting his eyebrows and looking back at Issei in surprise. "That's…correct. Excellent job Issei."

With a satisfied smile, Issei nodded towards his teacher in appreciation before leaning back in his seat as he listened to the teacher's speech. Casually ignoring the surprised looks the other students were giving him and occasionally glancing back outside through the window.

* * *

_**Kuoh Academy, six hours later**_

Issei stifled a yawn with the palm of his hand as he walked out of the front entrance of the school's main building along with numerous of other students. The sky was a dark orange with a tint of brown as the sun was setting on the edge of the horizon. Even though it was just his first day at yet another new school, Issei could honestly admit that it was probably the most boring day he had ever had in his entire life. The whole time he literally did nothing but sit flat on his ass for hours on end in a wooden desk listening to his teachers rant on and on about various topics and endless math problems. It wasn't that he hated his teachers, in fact he loved all of them. It was just that he didn't give a _shred _of a shit about what they were talking about. Even if it was necessary to learn for graduation. It was so boring that he actually wished for some idiot to try to mess with him just so he would have something to do.

Oh how he wished for those bullies to come back into his life.

With another stifled yawn, Issei walked out of the Academy's main gate and took a left where he soon crossed a bridge over one of the town's main highways, where he soon came into a nearby park and made his way back home. Determined to get another good night's sleep after a long boring-ass day.

From the top floor of the Academy's main building, four women were busy watching as Issei left the school's courtyard and out of the main gate. One of them being the red haired girl that was watching Issei earlier from the top of the stairs. Said redhead still held a content smile on her face as she turned to the woman standing right next to her. "Well Sona, what do you think?" she asked.

The girl next to her was about a few inches shorter than her with a slim, skinny body and pitch black hair that was styled in a bob cut along with amethyst colored eyes that were covered by a pair of pink rimmed glasses.

Sona Sitri, the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy as well as heiress of the Sitri devil clan, crossed her arms and stared at Issei's retreating form with a small frown on her face before looking back over to her childhood friend. "He certainly is an interesting one Rias. No matter how much I try, I can't get an exact read on his aura, power level, or anything else about him. It's as if he's many beings put into one body. It's strange… I've never seen anything like it."

Rias Gremory, the heiress of the Gremory devil clan as well as the Empress of Annihilation, smiled even wider as she crossed her own arms under her large breasts and looked towards Issei as he disappeared behind the gate. "You see? I knew he was special the moment I laid my eyes on him. The question now, however is what are we going to do about him?"

A sudden burst of giggling soon brought the two women out of their conversation and turned to see another girl about the same height as Rias with long black hair tied into a single ponytail with an orange ribbon. Her Kuoh Academy uniform hugged her shapely hourglass figure tightly as her amethyst colored eyes shined with amusement.

Akeno Himejima, the current Queen of Rias Gremory's peerage as well as the Priestess of Thunder, brought up a hand to her mouth to suppress another round of giggles as she looked at the two women in front of her with a large smile on her face. "My my, have we all gained an interest in our new cute student? Not that I'm complaining. After all I wouldn't mind having him all to myself." She spoke with a hint of lust in her light and cute voice as she burst into another round of giggles.

"Now is not the time to get into one of your 'moods' Akeno." said Sona as she sighed, which caused the Priestess of Thunder to pout in response.

"Indeed. We should be using this time to analyze our student and find out what he really is." Said a cold female voice from beside her. Said female was another tall girl with an ample figure that had long black hair that reached all the way down to her knees along with a pair of blue, half-rimmed glasses that covered her topaz colored eyes that were staring at the school's front gate with a narrowed and cold gaze while her arms were also crossed under her well-endowed chest.

"Well, what do you think of him Tsubaki?" Sona asked her friend as she raised her eyebrow curiously at her.

Tsubaki Shinra, the Vice-President of the Student Council as well as Queen of Sona's peerage, simply kept staring at the last spot she saw Issei at before turning her attention back towards Sona. "Other than the fact that we have absolutely no idea who or what he is? Not much. He may seem like a normal human being, but that abnormally large and mysterious aura that surrounds him says otherwise. We don't know what he is or what he has that is able to generate that much power, but so far I don't like it. There is a large chance that he may posses a threat later in the future. I say we should keep watching him and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble."

Sona was momentarily surprised by her queen's awful large opinion on the mysterious new student and was about to speak until Rias beat her to it. "You're worrying too much Tsubaki. I will admit that he is a rather strange being but that doesn't mean we should judge him right away. For now I think we should just take things slow and see if we can get to know him more. Try to get on his good side. That way we'll be able to figure out who he is and if he does possess a threat." _'And hopefully I'll be able to gain a powerful new ally in the process'_ thought Rias as a mischievous smile came onto her face. Which didn't go unnoticed by Sona who soon gained a slightly nervous glint in her eyes.

'_I've known her long enough to know what that look on her face means. I just hope you aren't willing to do anything drastic Rias.'_ Thought Sona in slight worry for her friend. Fearing that she might do something incredibly dangerous or incredibly foolish in order to get through to the one known as Issei Hyoudou.

* * *

_**Issei's subconscious, five hours later**_

"So basically for the entire day I'm just sitting there on my ass listening to the teachers ramble on and on about the history of Great Britain, the Biology of Fish, and how to find X when you square root 5 from 25 and all that bullshit that I don't care about." Said Issei as he dramatically sighed and threw his arms up into the air.

He was currently within the library of Hermaeus Mora located deep within his subconscious along with Miraak and Alex. As soon as he had fallen asleep, Issei had traveled to the library so that he could tell his tenants how his first day of High School went. Miraak was rather curious and somewhat amused at how Issei explained his entire day while Alex just stood off to the side leaning on one of the bookshelves with his hands in his pockets looking like he usually did; not caring about anything.

"**Well…it seems that this 'High School', wasn't exactly as you expected it to be, was it Issei?"** asked Miraak with his arms crossed and a slight smirk of amusement behind his golden mask.

"You're damn right it wasn't." muttered Issei as he stuffed his own hands in his pockets. "I mean I know its High School and it isn't supposed to be a dream vacation, but I didn't think it would be _that _boring." He said as he took another long sigh.

"Kid, its school. No matter how fun you want or think it's gonna be, it's always gonna find a way to fuck you over. Then soon it'll make you rethink on your entire life and you'll be asking yourself, "What did I ever do to deserve this?"" said Alex as he continued leaning on the bookshelf while looking at the Issei and Miraak with a slightly annoyed expression.

Issei only growled and glared at him with even more annoyance. "Gee, thanks for the great advice. Asshole." Said Issei as he muttered the last word to himself. Though Alex was clearly able to hear it due to his increased sense of hearing, which prompted him to send Issei his own glare while flipping him the finger.

"**Alright alright, let us not fight amongst ourselves."** Said Miraak as he calmly got in between the two. His expression behind his mask soon turned serious as he directed his attention back at Issei. **"Issei, there is something important that I must tell you. It seems that when you were born, Azathoth's power was not the only thing that you had gained. There was another being that had inducted itself into your body as well."** He said, which prompted Issei to look at him with side eyes and Alex to stand up from his position with his hands out of his pockets.

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? You're saying that there's something else inside me that I never knew about?" asked Issei with his voice slightly raised.

"**Yes. In fact, Mr. Mercer and I both had the pleasure of meeting him quite some time ago during your training. The only reason you were not able to meet him was because he was not ready to reveal himself to you. But now it appears that that time has come. Follow me.** Said Miraak as he began walking down one of the library's hallways, Issei and Alex quickly following in tow. Issei however was still trying to process what he had just been told and looked back at Alex for any answers.

"Hey Alex, what the hell is he talking about? Who or what exactly did you guys see?" said Prototype simply just kept his gaze on the walking knight ahead of them before turning his head to glance at Issei.

"It would be better if you saw for yourself kid." Was all he said before directing his attention back on the knight.

Issei, clearly annoyed that he didn't get any answers, simply kept his mouth shut and continued walking along with Miraak and Alex through the library's various hallways until they reached what looked like the very back of the library. Located on the back wall was another one of the large doors that had carvings of numerous monsters. Miraak soon opened the door and the three walked through, only to be met with the sight of a large space filled with nothing but darkness and a long stone staircase that dropped all the way down into the darkness below. Issei's was about to ask where it lead until he saw both Alex and Miraak make their way down the stairs. Deciding not to ask any more questions, Issei simply followed their lead and walked down the long staircase. Eagerly waiting to see what was down below.

* * *

_**Deeper within Issei's subconscious **_

"I-Is that what I think it is!?" yelled Issei I total shock at what was standing in front of him and Alex and Miraak, who were silently standing behind Issei.

**{Ah, so this is my host. I must say that it is pleasant to finally meet you face to face.}** boomed a loud and deep voice that echoed all throughout the area.

Yellow, orange and red flames burned and raged all throughout the area that Issei was standing in although for some reason he felt that they couldn't burn him. It was literally as if he were standing within the mouth of Hell itself except that he was immune to its intense flames.

And standing about a hundred feet tall within the multicolored flames was a massive Dragon that had crimson scales and horns that ran along its back, neck and head. Its head was in the shape of a colossal-sized arrowhead and within the head were two massive emerald green eyes that were peering down right at him through the intense light of the nearby flames.

Issei simply stood frozen into his spot with his jaw hung low and his eyes the size of plates. Out of all the things he had seen in his life, he had never thought that he would ever see an actual live Dragon. And the thought of it being within his own _mind_ made even more unbelievable to him.

With all the strength he could muster at the moment, Issei slowly brought up his shaking arm and pointed it directly at the Dragon. "W-Who are y-you?" asked Issei as he tried to regain control of his body.

The massive Dragon simply stared down at him with his bright green eyes for a moment before tilting his head to the side and answering in its deep, loud voice.

**{Hmph. Well since you are so eager to find out, I shall tell you. I am known as Ddraig the Welsh Dragon, or more commonly known as the Red Dragon Emperor. And you are my new host, Issei Hyoudou.}**

* * *

**Authors Note: Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to update. School's been a real pain in the ass lately and I haven't had that much time to write because of homework. Plus I kinda got lazy and didn't really feel like writing at times but either way I apologize. I'll try to update more frequently but I can't promise anything because of school, so don't get your hopes up. **

**Anyway, sorry for the long update and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: I was recently informed that Issei's hometown was actually named Kuoh instead of Kyoto so it'll be referred to as the city of **_**Kuoh **_**from now on.**

* * *

_**( ) Miraak telepathic **_

_**[ ] Alex telepathic speech**_

_**{ } Ddraig speech/ telepathic speech **_

**Chapter Six: Boosted Strength **

"D-draig? The Red Dragon Emperor?" Issei asked while still in mild shock.

**{That is correct Issei Hyoudou}** the newly named Ddraig confirmed as he nodded his large scaled head down at Issei.

"But I don't understand! How the hell is a living, breathing _Dragon _inside of my mind!? And how come I haven't met you before until now!?"

**{Well, to answer your first question Issei Hyoudou. The reason I am here is because I am sealed within the Sacred Gear that is inside of your body. And the reason why I am revealing myself to you now is because I was not able to fully awaken until recently. Though I was able to witness your entire life through your very eyes, and even though I have witnessed things that a child would find much more terrifying, you do have my sympathy.} **said Ddraig with a small trace of sincerity in his deep voice.

"Uh… thanks, I guess." Spoke Issei with an awkward tone and shifting his eyes away from the large Welsh Dragon. Feeling a little embarrassed and offended that the Dragon had basically spied on him since he was born without him knowing about. The awkwardness soon turned to sudden realization as Issei suddenly remembered something that Ddraig had said. "Wait a minute! You said that you were sealed in something called a Sacred Gear that was also inside of my body. What exactly is a Sacred Gear?"

Though Issei, Miraak, and Alex couldn't see it, Ddraig raised his scale lips into that of a smirk before answering. **{Hmph. You certainly are a smart host. A Sacred Gear is an item with powerful abilities that were bestowed upon humans from the original God from the Bible. They can come in many different shapes and forms, as well as different types. There are common ones known as Twice Critical, which usually have Dragon's sealed within them, yours being one of those. There are also the Longinus, which are unique and rare Sacred Gears that have enough power to kill a God. Because of this there are only thirteen in existence. But lucky for you, yours just so happens to be one of those thirteen Sacred Gears." **

If Issei wasn't as shocked as he was now, then he would have been the world's worst liar. Not only did he have the power of an alien space God and a giant Red Dragon sealed within him, but he apparently also had a device that had enough power to kill a God. Issei simply shook his head in bewilderment. Just how many of these weird powers was he going to get?

"**Fascinating"** Issei heard Miraak say as the knight continued to stare at Ddraig through his mask. **"To be able to kill a God with nothing but a mere item is truly something worth unbelieving."**

"Hn, You're tellin' me." Alex said with a grunt as he crossed his arms over his chest with a frown adorning his brows. "It wasn't enough that he had weird powers from a giant-ass space alien or a huge fucking Dragon in his head. But now he has another power that's able to kill a God. Just how screwed up are things going to keep on getting?" he asked as he also shook his head.

With a slight nod in agreement, Issei took the time to massage his temples in order to calm his rising stress level down before looking back up at the Welsh Dragon. "So uh, Ddraig? How exactly do I activate this Sacred Gear?"

**{It is simple really. First hold out your left hand.} **Issei looked momentarily confused by this sudden request but soon nodded in understand and stretched out his left arm as commanded. **{Now I want you to focus on that inner energy of yours and think of the strongest thing that you can possibly imagine.} **Now Issei was really confused. What did imagining the strongest thing he could think of have to so with unlocking his Sacred Gear? Regardless, Issei did as he was told, closed his eyes and tried to imagine anything that he thought was powerful. As minutes passed he started to struggle since he couldn't really think of anything that Ddraig would deem as powerful. He tried to think of himself as a powerful fighter what with all of the superpowers he had but even that didn't work.

Just as he was about to give up, his struggle was soon brought to a halt when thought of a familiar space God that was responsible for him receiving his power.

Just then, Issei suddenly felt a strange feeling that was churning on the inside of his body. That feeling was then moved itself through his body and directed itself toward his left arm. A bright flash shined itself through Issei's eyelids as he quickly opened them and saw that a green light was enveloping itself over Issei's entire arm. About a second later the flash immediately died down and Issei gasped in surprise and shock when he saw that his left arm was replaced by a large, red armored gauntlet with a small yellow spike on each of its sides as well as a large green spherical gem directly in the center of it.

"W-What the hell is this thing?" Issei said in awe as he examined the gauntlet on his arm. A deep grunt brought him out of his examination as he looked up and saw that Ddraig was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

**{What does it look like? It's your Sacred Gear, and a powerful one at that. It's called the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet. Many also know it as the Boosted Gear. Its ability is doubling its wielder's power every ten seconds as well as transferring power to anything or anyone it touches. It may just look like a regular gauntlet, but it is highly useful for any dangerous situation. Right now it is currently in its Twice Critical form, which is its weakest state. In order to convert it into its next level, you will need to learn how to use it and control its power. Great power comes with great responsibility, and trust me when I say that this Gear will not be easy to use. Many of my past hosts have been too overconfident and destroyed themselves after trying to gain too much power for them to handle. But if you're smart and actually use it wisely, you will be a force to be reckoned with. Especially if you combine it with the power that you already have.} **

"W-Wait… how'd you know about that? Issei asked with his eyes widened once again. This only prompted Ddraig give out a low scoff in response.

**{You forget that I've also been inside your body just as long as that power has. And I must admit that even for a powerful Dragon such as I, never before have I ever felt anything like it. It is strange and yet so mysterious. But that is what I like about you Issei Hyoudou. You are indeed are mysterious being, and as such I feel as though we will have an interesting partnership.} **

For the first time tonight, Issei gave the large Welsh Dragon a genuine grin and a nod of approval. Even though they had just met, Issei could feel that he and Ddraig were going to get along very well with each other. He was also a little giddy on the inside considering the fact that he would be receiving help from a live Dragon that was actually on the inside of his mind. Issei didn't know whether his life was taking a turn for the best or for worst, but either way he didn't care.

He was about to speak again until he felt the entire area around him tremor with a large shake. Ddraig lifted his large scaled head and scanned the area above him forma bit before looking back down at Issei, as well as Alex and Miraak.

**{It appears that Issei is about to awaken from his slumber. I'm afraid we will have to cut this discussion short until we have more time to speak. Until then Issei, you might want to use any free time that you have to get accommodated with your new Sacred Gear. I suggest that you find any secluded places that are well out of eyesight and use them to train. When training, I will be helping you by speaking to you telepathically through the Gear's gem. And make sure that you are not followed. This city contains a strong presence of Devils and Fallen Angels and it would be wise to stay well out of their sights.} **

Issei nodded in understanding just as he felt another tremor occur about a minute later. With another satisfied grin, he looked at Ddraig and gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry Ddraig. I have a feeling those guys won't even want to come within a hundred feet of me once I learn more about the Gear. Whelp, looks like my time here is done. I'll try to find a safe place tomorrow after school and I'll be sure to talk to you guys again if I need any help. See ya' later!"

And with that, Issei transmitted away and disappeared from the inner inferno deep within his mind and back outside to his body, leaving the Dragon, Virus, and Knight standing alone within the blazing fires. After a few minutes of an awkward silence between the three with the only sound emanating from the nearby fires, Alex gave a grunt in annoyance before looking up at the crimson Dragon. "So big guy, that armored glove of yours can really double the kid's power _every_ ten seconds?" he asked with a bit of doubt echoing in his voice.

Ddraig for his part, simply cast his large dark green eyes on Alex before narrowing his eyes and giving him a deep scoff in annoyance. **{That **_**armored glove**_** as you put it, happens to be one of the thirteen most powerful items in the entire world. If properly trained and used wisely, it can have the power to kill a God or a Satan King. It's not just handed out to any human like it's free candy. Besides Issei, only two other humans have been graced with the Boosted Gear. And instead of using it wisely like they should have, they both treated it as a weapon of war, using it to conquer their enemies and to show their superiority over others which ultimately lead to their unfortunate demise. But with Issei, I feel that he will make things entirely different.} **

"**You are correct to have confidence in Issei."** Spoke Miraak for the first time. **"He may seem foolish and overconfident at first, but once you really get to know him, you will see just how much of a success he can be. And he may not look like it, but he can also be real threat. As long as you don't set him the wrong way." **

**{Indeed. I pity anyone who is foolish enough to cross their blades with him.} **said Ddraig nodding in agreement.

"Heh, I will admit, the kid's gonna make one hell of a demon once someone pisses him off enough. And when they do, I'm gonna be right there to see it." Said Alex with a malicious grin under his hood.

* * *

_**Issei's bedroom, five hours later**_

Issei woke up with a grunt along with heavy half-lidded eyes as he stretched his arms and got up out of his bed to close his curtains. It was another beautiful sunny day in the City of Kuoh and daily life was going on as usual. Except for the fact that Devils were hiding and going to public school amongst human teenagers. If he was any normal human teen, Issei would've laughed in the person's face and just walk away, but fortunately for him he wasn't human. Not in the slightest anymore. He had lost his humanity long ago when he had nearly beat the school bullies to death with him walking and smiling about it all the way home. It was funny really. Every time he thought about it almost made it wish he could regain his humanity.

Almost.

With a stifled yawn, Issei made his way to his closet and dawned his usual school attire before heading downstairs and eating a quick breakfast. He then opened his front door and bid his parents a quick farewell before jogging his way to school. Ready for another day of long, boring-ass speeches.

* * *

_**Abandoned Church, five miles from Kuoh Academy **_

A tall, busty and curvaceous woman wearing a black short-sleeved jacket and short skirt with long Navy blue hair and pale skin scowled as she sat on one of the numerous empty rows of benches within the Church with her legs crossed over her large thick thighs. Her golden necklace dangled in the crevice of her large breasts and her dark blue eyes narrowed in frustration, annoyance, and anger as she kicked the bench in front of her with one of her high-heeled shoes.

Hours ago her master had ordered her to observe (more like spy) on the boy that contained the large energy source and to report back to him if she had found anything interesting. Just like her master, as well as her comrades, she too had sensed the enormous pressure of power that the boy had given off over seventeen years ago. At first she was, dare she admit it, scared that some unknown entity was about to attack, but that fear soon turned to relief as the enormous pressure suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye and was reduced to nothing but a low hum as the years went by. Ever since then she was still a bit weary of it but was more skeptical overall.

After all, how could a single human brat contain that much power in the first place?

Another scowl made its way up on her face as she remembered the order her master had given her.

* * *

_**Unknown warehouse, the day before **_

"_But Lord Azazel, why does it have to be me? Can't you get Raynare or Dohnaseek to do it instead? You know I hate when you assign one of us to just 'observe' someone. Especially when it's just some kid." said the woman in an annoyed sultry voice towards her leader, who was simply sitting at a nearby table with his arm supporting his head looking rather bored. _

"_Now now Kalawarner. The reason why I chose you is because I felt you were then only who was up to the task. Plus I trust you more because out of all your comrades, you are the one with the most patience. I mean Raynare and Dohnaseek would have just outright tried to kill him. And Mittelt, well… between you and me, we both know how Mittelt is when it comes to spying." _

_The woman known as Kalawarner gave out a slight chuckle at her master's sense of humor before quickly switching back to her annoyed expression. "But why are we even wasting our time with this kid when we should be fighting off the Devils? Is he really that important?" _

_Azazel's usual calm and lazy expression suddenly morphed into that of strict and serious. Something that was rare even for her to see. "It may not seem like it Kalawarner, but that boy possesses something that could either make him a valuable ally or our worst enemy. Either way, I know for sure that we were not the only ones who were able to sense his presence. There's no doubt that the Devils, Angels, and even the Khaos Brigade have all sensed him as well. Since we will soon be on peaceful terms with Devils and Angels, I know for a fact that they won't try to harm him but simply seek to gain his aid, though I can't say the same for maybe a few rogue Devils. The Khaos Brigade, however, are an entirely different matter. Since the faction is made up entirely out of powerful beings, and since the boy contains a large amount of power, my guess is that they will either try to recruit him or destroy him. Based on whether or not they deem him as a threat or an ally. This is why I feel that we should keep watch over him. To make sure that he doesn't run into the wrong people."_

_Kalawarner raised her eyebrows at Azazel's statement. "But I still don't get it Lord Azazel, if he's as powerful as you say he is then why watch over him? What makes you think that he can't handle anyone on his own?" _

"_Because there has to be experience behind all of that power. As far as I know, that kid has never even come into contact with any of the three factions much less fought one. And if he were to fight a member of the Khaos Brigade, there's a high chance that he could wind up dead. And to lose a chance at gaining a powerful ally is definitely something I don't want. Plus, the kid highly intrigues me. So I'll ask again Kalawarner, can I trust you with this simple errand?" he asked her with a questioning look. _

_Kalawarner looked down at the floor and mauled over the question. While it was true that the boy did slightly interest her, the last thing she wanted to do was to watch him. She was a Fallen Angel not a babysitter. And if the boy didn't have any knowledge of the power he holds and someone attacked him then she wouldn't be able to protect him by herself. Yes, she did think of herself as a capable fighter but even she knew her limits. And there was no way in hell that she would be able to fight against someone from the Khaos Brigade. _

"_Kalawarner" a sudden voice brought her out of her thoughts and looked up to see Azazel staring at her with his still stern expression along with his arms crossed. With a long frustrated sigh, Kalawarner gave her master a slight nod in reluctant acceptance before narrowing her eyes at him. "Fine, I'll watch over the brat. But don't expect me to save his ass when he's attacked." _

_Azazel's stern gaze soon turned back into a relaxed expression as a cool smile made its way onto his lips. "Thank you Kalawarner. I knew I was right when I chose you for the job."_

"_Tch, whatever." Grumbled Kalawarner as she left the warehouse._

* * *

Ever since then, Kalawarner had been mauling over how exactly she was supposed to keep an eye on the kid without getting caught. She obviously couldn't just waltz right into the school he went to because it was right in the middle of Devil territory, plus she looked like she was in her late twenties and was too old to pose as one of the students.

Azazel never really delved into any detail at when or how long she was supposed to watch him. Since she wore lots of dark clothing, she would definitely stick out like a sore thumb during the daytime. But since the kid's school ended at sunset, she figured that she could watch him from the shadows or high above the sky during the night. That might work if the kid didn't have the ability to sense other supernatural creatures, then she'd be screwed.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching that kid?" asked a male voice from beside her. Kalawarner turned her head and immediately scowled as she saw a tall man in his early thirties wearing a long dark-grey trench coat along with black slacks, black dress shoes and a black fedora on top of his head that covered most of his shaggy long dark hair. He currently had his arms crossed and was leaning against the nearby wall while looking at her with narrowed eyes.

Kalawarner narrowed her own eyes back at him, although in a more dark matter before speaking. "Don't remind me Dohnaseek. It's bad enough that I even have to do it in the first place. Why the hell Lord Azazel is even I treated in this brat is beyond me. I mean just because he has some sort of weird power doesn't mean that we should waste our time watching him. Especially mine." She said as she grumbled the last part to herself but the other man had clearly been able to hear her.

Said man, now named Dohnaseek, simply gave Kalawarner a smug smile under the shade of his hat before giving off a light chuckle in amusement. "Heh, sucks to be you. 'least I don't have to waste my time watching over some stupid human kid."

This only prompted Kalawarner to send him a heavy glare in response but soon had a smug smile of her own a minute later. "Well of course Lord Azazel didn't choose you. After all he said that I was the most trustworthy and that all you would do is screw it up."

"What!?" yelled Dohnaseek in disbelieving anger as he jumped from his spot off the wall and sent a glare towards Kalawarner. "What the hell are you talking about!? I'm more than capable of handling a simple observation mission! In fact, I'm even more capable than you are!"

Kalawarner only crossed her arms under her well-developed chest and sent a skeptical look towards her 'comrade'. "Right…and I'm an Angel with a golden fleece and six and a half wings. Remember the last time Lord Azazel sent you to observe someone? Instead of actually _observing_ them, you just put a light spear through their chest. And don't make me remind you of the punishment that Lord Azazel gave you for disobeying orders…"

"That wasn't my fault!" Dohnaseek yelled in anger. "Lord Azazel said that he could have a threat to us! All I was doing was simply eliminating a possible enemy!"

"That's right. _Possible _enemy. You didn't know that he could've been one to begin with." Kalawarner retorted as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and annoyance. "Look, the point is that I was chosen for this mission because Lord Azazel thought that I was the most trustworthy, whether I want to do it or not. If you don't like it, then you can go cry yourself a river, build a bridge and get over it, you big cry baby."

Even though she couldn't see it, a vein had popped out of Dohnaseek's head as he sucked in his teeth and gave out a snarl of anger. "Why you stupid fucking bit-"

"What the hell is going on here?" a female voice said from the sidelines as the two Fallen Angels turned their heads to see a woman who looked to be in her early twenties with long raven-black hair that reached down to her mid-back and amethyst colored eyes while wearing a _very_ revealing black leather outfit that had three silver spikes on her right shoulder and a broken chain that was dangling from her left upper arm along with knee-high leather boots and arm-length leather gloves. She was currently looking at the two other Fallen Angels with a confused stare.

Dohnaseek quickly regained his composure while Kalawarner merely gave her a sideways glance and a small scoff. "It's nothing Raynare. Just having a little chat with Dohnaseek is all. In fact, I was just about to leave on a mission that Lord Azazel had assigned me. So if there's nothing else, I'll be on my way." She said before she walked towards the church's entrance and disappeared into the nearby trees.

The other woman, now named Raynare, looked to where Kalawarner disappeared from for a minute longer before turning her attention towards Dohnaseek, who was still glaring in the direction that Kalawarner walked off to. "What was that all about?" she asked him in confusion.

Dohnaseek held his glare towards the outside before letting out a deep scoff and turning towards Raynare. "Lord Azazel sent her to observe that boy with the weird power level because apparently _she_ was the most trustworthy. And that woman had the gall to tell me that I would only screw things up if I was chosen. Honestly, if she wasn't a Fallen Angel I'd kill her the first chance I'd get."

Raynare simply stared at him with a blank face until she gave off a mere shrug in response. "Well you're not exactly the 'observing' type." She said.

Dohnaseek's anger quickly returned to him as he sent a heated glare towards Raynare. "Do you want me to shove a light spear through your chest as well?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Raynare only offered him a single smug smirk. "Only if you want me to burn your _special stash_."

In a matter of seconds Dohnaseek's personality did a complete 180 and his expression changed from heated anger to horrified silent. He didn't utter a single word but merely cast his gaze down to the ground where the shadow of his hat completely covered his eyes and offered the other Fallen Angel a single silent nod before putting his hands in his coat pockets and silently walked away deeper into the church, leaving Raynare completely alone while she giggled to herself like madwoman.

* * *

_**Secluded forest area, one hour after school**_

**BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM**

A loud explosion suddenly filled the nearby atmosphere as a large shockwave shook the nearby ground. Everywhere in the surrounding area, broken pieces of trees, dirt, and rocks littered the ground. Large craters were penetrated deep within the earth as light trails of smoke slowly rose out of the burning ground. In the center of it all stood Issei with his newly acquired Sacred Gear resting on his arm, only this time the Gear had transformed and Issei's arm now looked like a full red Dragon's claw that went all the way up to his elbow in dark crimson armor filled with rows of spikes. The green gem was laying lifelessly in the middle of the large gauntlet as Issei cracked his neck and stretched his arms.

"Damn, who would've thought that this thing could shoot out giant explosive laser beams? It's a miracle how no one has found me yet." He said to himself as he continued stretching. Just as Ddraig had instructed him to, Issei had immediately gone to a secluded part of the town right after school so that he could train in using his new Sacred Gear. It took some time, but with Ddraig's help he was able to get the handle of it in no time. He had even advanced the Gear to its next level, which was apparently supposed to make it stronger. And stronger did it get. Every time Issei added another boom of continuous boosts of power to himself, he instantaneously felt like he could take on any army by himself. Not only was he faster, stronger, and more durable, he was also able to strengthen the powers that he already had. Such as adding more distance and speed to his Mark's Blinking ability or making his Blade Arm sharper and bigger. He could literally cut through a solid bolder as if it was nothing but butter. He had also discovered that the Gear itself contained powers of its own.

One of which was shooting giant-ass laser beams.

_**{Nicely done Issei. I have to day that out of all my previous hosts, you have progressed faster than any of them had. You have even managed to advance the Gear to its second stage on the first day. Something that no one has been able to do.} **_said Ddraig with pride for his new host.

_**(Indeed. With a power like that, there is no telling what you could do.) **_said Miraak with fascination for the Sacred Gear.

_**[Next thing you know he'll be shooting goddamn fireballs. Just what else can that metal glove do?] **_asked Alex with a small amount of disbelief.

'_Don't know…let's find out shall we?'_ asked Issei telepathically as he took a deep breath and got into a battle ready stance. "Alright Boosted Gear, let's see what you can really do!" he yelled to the red gauntlet. Suddenly the green gem in the middle of Issei's hand lit up with a bright glow.

_**(BOOST)**_ yelled a voice from inside the gem that sounded very familiar to Ddraig's. Issei could instantaneously feel the power storing up within his left hand. "C'mon, more! Show me what you can really do!" he yelled to the gauntlet.

_**(BOOST) **_said Ddraig's voice from inside the gem as it continued to glow.

"I know you can do better than that!" yelled Issei has he continued to store as much power as he could.

_**(BOOSTx10) **_one by one the gem continued to glow brighter and brighter as each Boost was applied to it. Continuously making it stronger and stronger as each set of ten seconds passed by. "That's more like it! Now here we go! **Dragon Shot!**" he yelled as he trusted his arm forward.

All that stored power was then released into a single tiny red ball that shot out of Issei's hand. That tiny red ball then began to grow and grow until a giant red laser suddenly shot forward at unreal speeds towards the sky.

**BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM**

The red laser suddenly exploded high up into the sky with unrelenting force as smoke filled the entire area while red and orange fire slowly fell towards the earth. The echo of the large 'BOOM' still rung in Issei's ears as he looked at the explosion with complete awe._'That… was a little bigger than I expected it to be. No doubt that's going to attract a lot of attention. I better get the hell out of hear.'_ He said to himself before the gauntlet faded out of existence as he hightailed it out of the forest and towards his house, carefully making sure that he wasn't caught by the local authorities or any supernatural entities.

Too bad he never noticed someone hiding deep within the trees, who had watched the entire thing with a gob smacked expression.

* * *

Being a Fallen Angel, Kalawarner had seen a lot of strange and unbelievable things in her life. She had killed innocent humans, a few Angels, and even a few stray Devils. But never in her entire life had she seen anything as unbelievable as this.

Just a little over an hour ago, she had arrived near the school where she had been able to get a good glimpse at the kid she was supposed to watch over. And she did admit to herself that he was kind of cute. But what really got her interested was that not only was she was able to sense his strange aura but also the aura of a Dragon, something that she had never sensed before. So after he had left the school she had followed a good distance behind him while being careful to not get caught into a remote forested area that was away from the nearby town, which had confused her. Why would he come all the way out here by himself where he could've easily been ambushed?

That confusing soon turned into shock after a large red metal gauntlet suddenly materialized itself on his arm. This kid also had a Sacred Gear! And it wasn't just any Sacred Gear, it was one of the thirteen Longinus, the Boosted Gear, which was said to hold the Red Dragon Emperor himself! Just how in the hell did this kid get it?

Her shock had only increased further as she watched him shoot at the nearby trees with giant red beams of light that literally blew up anything it touched. She had silently thanked God that he didn't ever shoot in her direction, or else this would've been one short mission. She then got her final shock of the day when he had fired his last beam of light into the sky where it created a large explosion that sent massive shockwaves throughout the entire area. She had even almost fell out of the tree she was hiding in because it was so powerful!

Just as she was getting herself situated back into the tree, she was able to make out the kid's running figure as he retreated back into the forest, probably heading back towards the town. She was also able to hear numerous sirens off in the distance from the human's emergency vehicles as they continued growing louder and louder with each wasting second.

"Shit, I need to get out of here and report this to Lord Azazel!" she said to herself as her wings appeared from out of her back and took flight back towards Azazel's warehouse at top speed, while the thoughts of the unknown human boy still plagued her mind.

* * *

_**Underworld, Phenex Mansion**_

Located in a large mansion deep within the Underworld, a young man in his early twenties with long shaggy blonde hair wearing a red burgundy blazer on top of a white buttoned up dress shirt along with red slacks and black dress shoes sat in his office with narrowed eyes and a contemplating look on his face.

Just like the other three factions, he had also sensed the tremendous power that had appeared out of nowhere seventeen years ago and frankly, it unnerved him a bit. Even after all of his years of living, he had never sensed anything like it before. It was so mysterious that he didn't know what to make of it. Only that it had actually felt on par with the Infinite Dragon God's, maybe even stronger.

It had also angered him to no end.

To know that there was something more powerful out there than the glorious power of the Phoenix had sent angry tremors down his spine. He could understand the fact that the Dragon God had more power but for something else that he or any of the other Devils had absolutely no knowledge of made him even more angrier. The Phenex Clan was one of the most powerful and prestigious families of all the 72 Pillars and was known for their instantaneous healing abilities as well as their immortality. There was absolutely nothing in this world except for the Dragons that could take on a Phoenix and live to tell the tale. When he had first sensed the unknown power, he had immediately thought of going there and confronting it himself but the rational part of his brain soon thought against it. While it was true that the Phoenixes were vastly power, he still had no knowledge of what was giving off that unknown power. So he simply waited to see if anything would change over time.

And change it did. Over the years, the young future clan leader sensed that the power had actually been slowly growing stronger and stronger as the years progressed. And each and every time it grew, so did his anger. So one day he decided to take a trip up to the human world to see just where it was coming from when he discovered that it had actually been originating from where Sirzechs Lucifer's younger sister had been attending school. From there he was able to see that the power was emanating from a young boy who looked a few years younger than he did. This in fact, only made his anger increase tenfold. How could a mere human child possess that much power? Such things were never heard of, especially when it came to humans, if he even was human to begin with.

He was almost tempted to attack him right then and there. But just as he was about to fry the brat, he soon got an idea. What if he could somehow lure him into the Underworld where he could challenge him to a public death match. That way he could show all of the other Devils that this kid was nothing more than an illusion and that the Phenex Clan was still ranked number one.

So, it was without a further a dew that Riser Phenex of the prestigious Phenex Clan got up from his chair and made his way towards the Gremory Clan's mansion with a triumphant smirk on his face. Fully ready to show that brat that the Devils were still all powerful and that nothing could stop them.

And all he needed was permission from Sirzechs Lucifer himself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Insanity's Manifestation **

"About fucking time!" yelled Issei in absolute relief as he ran out of his classroom, drawing raised eyebrows and slight frowns from the others students at his sudden use of harsh language.

Just as it had been in the weeks before, Issei had just barely managed to keep himself from going insane after _once again_ spending the entire day listening to nothing but six hours of mind numbing crap emanating from his teachers' mouths. Also the fact that he had about an hour of homework to do after it all only added on to the continuous torture of Satan's Funhouse known as school. Issue still never understood what the whole point of it was anyway. School was supposed to be a place where you would learn something that you would actually _use_ in the future. What the hell was the point of learning about a bunch of old dead kings and civilizations or the cell structures of fish? It's not like humanity was going to expand with a bunch of old dead corpses and ruined buildings, or learn how to cook a fish by studying its cells. Whatever the reasons were, he didn't care.

Just being out of that building was nothing short of a miracle from the Lord Almighty himself.

'_Oh sweet freedom how I've missed thee!' _Issei dramatically yelled in his head as he rounded the corner and sprinted towards the entrance, flawlessly dodging any students who were in his way and ignoring their startled cries and various "Watch where you're going!". He ran out of the front door, past the fountain and made a beeline towards the front gate.

"Hey new guy, hold on a second!" yelled a voice from behind Issei that made him come to a halting stop. With a frustrated sigh Issei turned around and saw that a male student about the same age as him with bright blonde hair and grey eyes was jogging towards him while waving his hand. Once he caught up to him he took a few moments to regain his breath before giving Issei a warm smile. "You're the student who recently transferred into Kuoh Academy right? My name's Kiba Yuuto. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said before he outstretched his hand over to Issei.

Issei, not really sure about the sudden greeting, simply stared at the man with a raised eyebrow before awkwardly taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Uh… nice to meet you too Mr. Yuuto. I'm Issei Hyoudou. Is there something I can help you with?" he asked.

"You can just call me Kiba." Kiba said as he retracted his hand away from Issei. "And I just wanted to know how you've been adjusting to the Academy lately. I trust that everything is to your liking?" he asked as he continued to smile.

'_To my liking? It's fucking school. There's nothing I _like_ about it.' _Thought Issei while staring at Kiba as if he were the biggest dumbass on the face of the planet. "Uh, yeah. It sure is a neat school." He said while momentarily chastising himself for saying such a thing.

His lie only seemed to make Kiba smile brighter as he nodded his head. "It sure is! The best one in the entire city! We sure are lucky to have a wonderful student such as yourself attending the Academy. Should make the school year a lot more interesting with you around." He joyfully said while continuing to smile his warm yet _very_ creepy smile. "Say Issei, I was actually wondering if you had managed to join any of the school clubs yet. If not then I would be honored if you would consider in joining the Occult Research Club, which is also the club that I am currently in. It seems that our President has taken in interest in you and is eager to meet your acquaintance."

In response to his request, Issei only gave him a blank stare. He hadn't even known this guy for five seconds and already he was being asked to join his club. A club that studies mystical beings and the supernatural no less. _'There's no way in hell this can be a coincidence.'_ He thought while narrowing his eyes at Kiba, who shrank a bit under his gaze. _'I've been to a bunch of schools at not a single one of them had a club like this. In fact, no school I've heard of has had a supernatural research club to begin with. And it just so happens that the one school I transfer to, a preppy private school at that, has one? This has to be some sort of trick.' _

_**{Way to be the keen observer partner.} **_spoke Ddraig from within his mind. _**{I can sense that the person standing I. front of you is actually a Devil. And the club that he speaks of is merely a façade. He is trying to lead you towards the other Devils that reside within this school. Be on your guard.} **_

'_Ah, so that's it.' _Said Issei in understanding as he looked off to the side and gave a slight nod in response, which didn't go unnoticed by Kiba. _'They're trying to get me to join them. Well we'll just see about that. Thanks for the heads up Ddraig.' _With a mischievous smile, Issei ended the telepathic conversation between him and Ddraig before looking back at Kiba who was politely waiting for Issei's response, though the smile on his face was no longer there. "Sorry dude, but I'm not interested in joining any clubs right now. Give my regards to your president the next time you see him."

Kiba looked momentarily surprised and a little disappointed at Issei's refusal but quickly reverted back to his usual smile. "I understand. Sorry for wasting your time Issei. I'll see you later." And with that he quickly walked away from Issei and towards an old building that was right next to the school. Not once turning around to see the vicious yet victorious smile that Issei had on his own lips.

"Sorry pretty boy, but you and your other Devil buddies aren't going to get me that easily." He said as he walked out of the school's main gate and towards his house. Feeling relieved that he could finally go home yet slightly disappointed that he couldn't rip that damn smile off of Kiba's face.

* * *

_**Occult Research Building, an hour later**_

"So Issei Hyoudou refused your offer to join the club?"

"I'm afraid so Ms. President. He never really looked interested to begin with. Plus he didn't seem like the type of person who socializes. But I did manage to catch something that was rather odd. When I asked him if he wanted to join, he immediately broke eye contact and looked off to the side. At first I just assumed that he was thinking of my proposal until he narrowed his eyes and nodded out of nowhere, as if he was hearing or listening to something that I couldn't hear. Then he looks back at me and rejects my offer before walking away. I don't know why but it seemed like he was suspicious of me. As if he knew what my intentions were."

"Hmm… that does sound very suspicious indeed. In fact it may almost be concerning. If Issei already knew what your intentions were, then there's a possibility that he might know that you're a Devil. And if he knows that you're a Devil then he knows that the rest of us are Devils, which is not a good thing."

"Then what do you propose we should do?"

"As I've said, it's a possibility that he might know we're Devils, but that doesn't mean he knows for sure. So we can't go picking fights or open threats since he hasn't deemed himself as a threat. But that doesn't that he won't be aggressive towards us if we try to keep pushing him to come to us. For now I say that we should continue to monitor him whenever we can and at least try to gain his friendship. This may also be a good opportunity to gain a potential ally."

"As you wish Ms. President. We'll make sure that we'll do our best into getting Issei Hyoudou's trust."

"I'm sure you will Kiba. It's getting pretty late, so why don't you head home and we'll discuss this more tomorrow."

"Alright, see you tomorrow Rias."

Rias Gremory sighed as her knight left the Occult Research Building, leaving her alone with the recent news regarding the mysterious student that was Issei Hyoudou. The fact that there was a possibility he could sense Devils wasn't a good thing indeed. If he could sense them, there was no way to tell how he would act. Would he simply brush them off and ignore them or would he just simply try to kill them all? Even though Rias knew that there was no way he could take them all out by himself, she still hoped that he chose the third option. This young man had lots of potential and it would be a dramatic waste if they had to kill him. And that potential was something she wanted.

Rias hoisted herself up from her desk chair and made her way towards the middle of the candle-lit room where she sat on one of the two couches that were on both sides of a large table. On top of the table was a small black and white checkerboard with black and white chess pieces placed on their respective squares, each color being on both sides of the board. With a silent _'hum'_, Rias placed her hand on her chin and simply stared at the board, quietly studying each and every piece that was placed on each square on both sides. After a few moments of silent concentration she reached out a took a single white piece before bringing it closer to her and silently gazing at it with her emerald eyes.

'_The Pawn' _she silently thought.

Just as its name induced, the Pawn was always seen as nothing more than the frontline soldier. It was simply used as a sacrificial piece in order to make way for the much stronger pieces. It had no special traits and was only able to move one square at a time, thereby making it completely useless in the eyes of most chess players. The name itself was more than enough to make it sound like a joke. It was treated like nothing but a common rat. If it was killed, you would forget about it a second later.

However, while it was true that it was seen as the most useless piece, it did possess one special ability that none of the other pieces had that made it unique. If placed deep enough into the enemy's territory, it would be promoted to where it could turn into any piece that the player chose besides the King. It could even be promoted to a Queen, which was the strongest piece in the entire game.

Rios mauled over her thoughts as she continued to study the chess piece within her hand. Ever since Issei had transferred into Kuoh Academy, Rias simply couldn't get him out of her mind. She had sensed a great power that was growing inside of him that she had never felt before yet there was something else about him that she couldn't place her finger on. And she didn't even know why. Sure there had been some interesting students who had come and gone once or twice but out of all of them, he was the one who interested her the most. Was it his looks? His personality? His attitude?

No. It was his eyes.

In all her years of living (which was a really long time), Rias had never seen colored eyes more mysterious yet so beautiful like his. Emerald green just like her own mixed with a dark hue of purple. Almost like they were pieces of stained glass she had seen on the outside of Churches that told a story completely unknown to her or anyone around him. Usually you can tell what a person was like just by looking into their eyes but no matter how hard she had looked she had never really gotten a full tale. Only brief words and a few sentences here and there. And within those sentences she was only barely able to make out vague feelings of sadness, pain, indifference, and anger. Yet she could not tell why they were even there in the first place.

She had also been able to catch a glimpse of something that had honestly sent a cold shiver of fear up her spine. Something that made her think of a decision she almost regretted.

After two weeks of attending Kuoh Academy, Rias had gone to Sona and told her that she wanted to make Issei a new member of her presage by choosing him as the Pawn piece, yet the reply she got from Sona had confused her. She said that it may not work no matter how many pieces she used and that even Mutation Pieces wouldn't work and that she had deduced that Issei was simply far too powerful to be transformed into a Devil.

At first she didn't believe it, stating that Sona was only telling her this so she could have Issei all to herself, but as time went on she began to see what Sona was trying to tell her. Issei's power was growing and there was a very high chance that he wouldn't indeed be able to turn into a Devil, which had slightly upset her since she was very eager to have a powerful ally on her side. But now, all that seemed like a wild fantasy.

With a depressed sigh, Rias set the chess piece back on the board and got up to go apologize to Sona until a bright light suddenly appeared behind her and illuminated the entire inside of the building. Rios quickly spun around and looked down on the floor before scowling in anger after seeing a familiar dark-yellow magical circle placed on the floor. After a few moments a bright silhouette materialized out of the circle before both disappeared completely, revealing a familiar blonde haired male dressed in a red burgundy blazer along with red slacks and black dress shoes.

Doing her best to keep her growing anger in check, Rias simply gave the man one of the most heated glares that she could muster while clenching her fists at her sides.

"What are _you_ doing here, _Riser_?" she spoke with a high amount of venom in her tone while continuing to burn a hole through the man with her glare.

Riser Phenex completely ignored the glare that his (forced) future wife was giving him and instead sent her a smug smirk in return while placing his hands on his chest in a mock injury. "Why Rias, you harm me with your cold, cold words. And after all this time I thought you would be happy to see your beloved fiancé."

_***Slap* **_

Riser flinched after being caught off guard from the unexpected slap from Rias, who was now standing in front of him with an even greater glare than before while retracting her hand away from his face.

"Cut the act, Riser. I told you before that I will _not_ marry you. And I know you're simply not here for an unwelcomed reunion. Now spit it out and tell me why it is you're _really_ here."

Riser scowled as he rubbed the side of his face before looking back at Dias with a glare of his own.

"Hmph. Fine then. Since you're so eager to hear, I'll tell you. The reason I am here is because I am looking for that brat who holds all of that unusual power. The one you know as Issei Hyoudou."

This sudden statement hit Rias like a ton of bricks as she widened her eyes and gaped her mouth in shock before taking a few steps back, putting some distance between her and Riser.

"I-Issei!? What do you want with him!?" she yelled in anger and confusion.

* * *

_**A few miles from the school, same time**_

Issei scratched a nagging itch on his back as he walked home from the nearby forest. The sky was a neat dark-blue as the moon began to rise out of the horizon, showing that it was a few hours away from night. Just like he had been doing the past couple of days, Issei had spent another two hours of blowing up trees and rocks with his newly acquired Boosted Gear, while occasionally being aided with some tips and tricks from Ddraig and Miraak, while Alex simply stayed quiet and occasionally made one or two snarky comments every once and awhile.

During his training with his Sacred Gear, he had also spent some time on honing his Blacklight and Mark abilities, sometimes even combing them with the Boosted Gear to get even better results. Results that he was indeed, not disappointed with.

Since he was able to double his power every ten seconds, he deduced that he should be able to double his abilities' powers as well. As such, he would simply activate the dragon gauntlet on one arm while equipping his Blacklight on the other. One tip that Miraak had gave him was that he should try to charge as much power into the gauntlet as he could and then transfer it into his other arm. With the new idea in mind, Issei had morphed his right arm into a blade and charged his Gear up to twenty 'Boosts' before transferring it into the blade.

What he saw next almost made him piss himself with excitement.

What was once a normal, six-foot long arm blade covered in red and black veins was now a large, eight- long, crimson-red clever blade that was covered in black dragon scales with glowing red centers. The blade itself seemed a lot sharper than before and Issue was able to test this theory after successfully slicing a large boulder cleanly in half without any resistance whatsoever. Almost as if he was cutting straight through water.

He had also been able to give his Mark abilities a great boost in power as well. One example being his Hermaeus Rift ability. With the added boosts his Red Dragon Gauntlet gave him, he was now able to summon up to twenty tentacles at once with each tentacle escalating at a height of over thirty feet tall, along with the tentacles gaining their own unique features such as spikes, poison, jaws filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth and much, _much_, more.

God help the person who even _attempted_ to piss him off.

So, after a few joyful and ecstatic hours of practicing with his Sacred Gear and other abilities, we now find our main protagonist walking on the sidewalk in the peaceful moonlit night towards his home while silently conversing with his inner tenants through his mind.

'_Ddraig, not trying to sound weird or anything but I fuckin' love you man! Thanks to this Gear that you gave me, along with my other powers from Miraak and Alex, there's no way in hell that anyone in their right mind would ever come close to screwing with me. I only wish I had someone to test it on though…'_ Issei said to his inner dragon as he joyfully walked home with a skip in his step.

_**{Think nothing of it, partner. I am merely thankful to have gained a host who actually knows what he is doing and not using the Gear as a mere tool of destruction or weapon of war. Though I too am curious as to how you plan on using it in battle.} **_spoke Ddraig with a hint of pride for his new host.

'_Isn't it obvious? I'll just use the Gear to boost the abilities I already have while I simply dominate everyone and everything that gets in my way. Simple as that.'_

_**(Do not be foolish Issei.) **_said Miraak with a disapproving tone. _**(You may have gained something that makes your abilities stronger, however that does not mean that you are invincible. Do not be so quick to feel satisfied just because you have gained a little aide in advance.) **_

_**[He's right kid. Don't think so high and mighty of yourself.] **_said Alex sounding more angry than usual. _**[If there's one thing I hate in any sort of world, it's people who think they're hot shit just 'cause they have something to do the work for them. Just because you have fancy gauntlet that doubles your power doesn't mean that you're god. So quick acting like it.]**_

Issei, feeling both embarrassed and ashamed for speaking so highly of himself, simply hung his head in shame after being scolded by his two friends/teachers. _'You're right. Sorry guys. I'm just really excited that I have something that'll make me stronger. I didn't mean to let it go to my head.'_

_**(Just remember Issei: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. If you let your pride get too high, it will only lead to a greater downfall.) **_said Miraak referencing a passage from the Holy Book.

_**[Yeah, what he said.] **_grunted Alex while simply going along with it.

Issei only continued to hang his head as he walked underneath the night sky. _'Lime I said guys, I'm sorry. I'm just really eager to kick some ass with all these new powers it's driving me cra-'_

Issei suddenly stopped walking and shot his head up with wide eyes as he felt a strange yet chilling sensation that engulfed his entire body and sent several chills up his spine. Whatever it was that he was feeling at the moment was definitely not a good sign. Almost as if something bad were about to happen…

But just as soon as it came, the strange feeling suddenly disappeared, allowing Issei to regain control of his body and causing him to whirl his head around in different directions in order to find the source of the sensation.

'_What the hell was that!?'_ Issei yelled in his mind as he continued to search while getting ready to fight encase of any incoming danger. _'It felt like my entire body was frozen solid for about three seconds, then it just suddenly disappeared. Ddraig, Miraak, Alex, you guys feel it too?'_

_**{We did Issei, and you're not going to like it. I'm currently sensing the presence of about three Devils a few miles from our location. Except they're not heading towards us…} **_said Ddraig with an edgy tone with a mix of confusion.

_**(Issei! I was able to get a further analysis on the three Devils, they're at your house!)**_ yelled Miraak in alarm.

Issei's eyes were now wide open in shock and fear at the information he had just received. _'Shit! Mom and Dad!'_ he yelled in his mind before breaking off into a full sprint towards his house.

* * *

_**Occult Research Building**_

"Answer me Riser! What is it you want with Issei!?" yelled Rias as she continued to glare hatefully at the Phenex spawn.

To say that Rias was shocked would have been a complete understatement. In all honesty, she had absolutely no idea what a Devil like Riser Phenex would want with a simple boy like Issei. In fact, she didn't even have any idea how he even knew of Issei's existence in the first place. Sure, the tremendous power that he leaked did attract lots of attention but she never thought that Riser, who barely traveled to the human world in the first place, would've been able to find him so easily.

But if he was a part of something that involved Issei, then it obviously wasn't good.

Riser only scowled in response to Rias' demanding for an answer and simply crossed his arms. "You and I both know Rias that that pathetic human holds a great power within him that has the possibility to surpass one of the Great Satans, maybe even all four if it continues to keep growing. I merely thought it was a hoax at first. A simple fluctuation from the Ouroborus Dragon or Great Red himself. But for the past seventeen years, that power has not diminished one bit, but has rather gotten stronger. Imagine the torture I went through when I had to continuously sit and watch as that mysterious power kept growing day by day. To simply learn that there is something out there besides the two Dragon Gods that is more powerful than the great Phenex Clan, which is supposed to be one of the most prestigious clans in the whole Underworld! It was unbearable!" he said as he rubbed his temples in frustration and anger. Though the anger quickly formed into a smug smirk as Riser stared into Rias' confused eyes. "But then I soon asked myself, why not test this theory for myself? Why don't I just prove to everyone that this power is nothing more than an illusion? And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Rias' anger never left her eyes but they still held a mild amount of confusion at Riser's ending statement. "But I still don't understand! Why _exactly_ do you want Issei!?"

Riser's smirk soon returned to its annoyed scowl as he shook his head at Rias' stupidity. "Isn't it obvious Rias? I'm going to fight him."

Rias' eyes practically popped out of her skull in total shock at Riser's sudden declaration. "WHAT!?"

"That's right." Said Riser in smug satisfactory. "As we speak, my servants are at his house where they will 'convince' the brat to go to the Underworld. In about an hour, every single Devil in the Underworld will see me mop the floor with his blood and I'll be able to prove once and for all that he is nothing more than a weakling who should learn to know his place. And that no matter how special he seems, he will always be below the might of the Devils."

Rios put all of her anger in hate into the biggest glare she could muster and directed it all towards Riser along with a low growl and the clenching of her teeth. "Riser… when my brother hears about this-"

"Don't even try threatening me Rias." Riser haughtily countered. "After all, who do you think gave me permission to host this little event?"

"W-What!?" Rias exclaimed in great shock in confusion while widening her eyes once again. "There's no way my brother would-"

"Oh on the contrary Rias, Lord Sirzechs was more than willing to let me do this. He was even interested in seeing the brat in action for himself. The fight will be held in the Phenex duel arena. Every High-Class Devil and their servants will be attending and will watch as I completely burn the little human to ashes!"

"B-But he may not even know that he has the power to begin with! You can't just fight him if he has no knowledge of it in the first place!"

"Hn. Fortunately, that's not my problem. Whether if he knows or not doesn't matter to me. What matters is that I can finally show everyone that a mere human can never obtain this much power and that all they ever will be are the garbage beneath our shoes. Farewell Rias. I do hope you plan on coming so that you can see me utterly destroy the brat."

And with that, the highly arrogant Riser Phenex activated his magical circle and transmitted away, leaving Rias to stand frozen still in shocked silence in the middle of her club room while still trying to wrap her head around the whole situation.

'_I-It doesn't make sense!'_ she yelled in her mind. _'Why the hell would Nii-sama agree to something so preposterous!? Even if he does know about his power, there's no way that Issei can beat someone like Riser!'_ she shook her head in order to try to get all of the worry out of her and instead hardened her eyes in a fierce look of determination. _'I need to go see Sona about this.' _She said before she turned around and made her way towards the Student Council office in order to ask her longtime friend for assistance.

* * *

_**Hyoudou Residence, a few minutes earlier **_

Kazane Hyoudou sighed in in happiness as she washed the dishes while waiting for her only son to return. Her husband Ibiki while silently reading the local newspaper on the nearby couch with his legs crossed as the television echoed the sounds of some random show throughout the background.

It had been over five years since the Hyoudou family had moved to the city of Kuoh and it had so far been the best decision of their lives. After countless times of switching to different locations in order for their son to get a good education but to also try to live a happy life. The earlier years had been nothing but absolute torture and hell for their young son and would've had to continue further if it were not for the transfer and large raise Ibiki had gotten at his job. Because of that, the family were once again able to move and had finally settled into a peaceful community where their son was not only able to further his education, but had also been able to gain some friends along the way, which was something that Issei had no success in doing whatsoever due to being bullied most of his life. But now, as if God had finally answered their prayers, Issei no longer had any more problems with bullies and was now able to make plenty of friends who hung out with him almost every day. The sudden change in her son's life had brought tears of joy to Kazane's eyes.

Now it was the middle of winter and Issei was able to get transferred into one of Kuoh's most prestigious schools for his second year. Besides having to constantly hear her son complying about how boring it was, she was just glad that he was able to go to a school where he _wasn't_ harassed on a daily basis.

_*DING DONG* _

"I'll get it, dear." Kazane said as Ibiki paused in his movement to get up, who simply shrugged and sat back down once again to read the paper. Kazane quickly cleaned off the last plate before placing it in the sink and making her way towards the front door. After opening the door, she widened her eyes when she saw that there were three females that looked about the same age as her son who were all wearing the strangest attire she had ever seen.

The first girl in the middle was of average height with blue-green eyes and long black hair that two Chinese-styled buns on each side of her head while some of her bangs reached across her forehead. She wore a _very_ revealing outfit that consisted of a blue Chinese Qipao with gold trimmings that was a v-neck that revealed a good amount of her cleavage. She also had a large white sash that was wrapped tightly around her waist along with two black armbands around her arms and a pair of black low-heeled shoes.

The girl on her left had bright blue hair that was tied into four ponytails with two of the four ponytails curving up while the other two curved down. Her outfit consisted of a short white haori with a dark red sash tied around her waist all under a large red open coat. She also wore a pair black gloves along with white bandages that were wrapped firmly around her legs with a pair of white socks and brown sandals. She was also wielding a large brown staff.

The last girl on the right had long light brown hair that was covered by a white headpiece with two black ties along two of her bangs that hung on the sides of her head, framing her face perfectly. She also wore two black bracelets that were on each of her wrists along with two black combat boots.

"Excuse me miss." Said the girl in the middle with a soft yet firm voice. "Is Issei Hyoudou here at the moment?"

Kazane was snapped out of her stupor after observing the three girls in their strange attires and looked at them with a confused expression. _'How do they know Issei lives here? Are they friends of his?'_ she asked herself. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid he's not here right now. Are you friends of his from school?"

"No, we're not." Said the girl with narrowed eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. "But our master has ordered us to find and bring Issei Hyoudou to him by any means necessary. So I'm afraid that you and your husband will be coming with us."

Kazane's eyes widened with shock and a little bit of fear. "What are you talking abou-AHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

_**Hyoudou Residence, ten minutes later**_

_*CRASH*_

"MOM, DAD! YOU GUYS HERE!?"

A loud crash echoed throughout the entire house as Issei kicked the front door straight open. Once he was inside, he looked in horror once he saw that the various pictures and Knick-Knacks that were hung on the hallway walls were knocked onto the floor followed by a couple of scratched and dents that were littered across the walls and floor. With intense speed, Issei sprinted down the hallway and into the kitchen where his sense of dread only increased after he saw that the kitchen was in no fairer shape than the hallway. Broken dishes and glasses were littered along the counters and the floor along with some chairs that were toppled over. Hell there was even a broken window near one of the couches! The whole place looked as if someone had forcefully broken into his home except nothing looked like it had been stolen.

He was about to go search the rest of the house until he suddenly spotted something laying on the kitchen table. On closer inspection, he saw that it was a folded piece of paper along with another piece of paper that had a strange black circular symbol on it. He disregarded the second piece and focused his attention on the folded piece. He picked it up and unfolded where it was revealed to be a note. _'Probably from the assholes that did this'_ he thought angrily before he started reading.

_Issei Hyoudou_

_Yes, I know who you are and frankly it is none of your concern. _

_What is more important is that I now have your pathetic parents held hostage within my home and will not hesitate to burn their miserable corpses off the face of the earth unless you do exactly as I instruct. Next to this note is another piece of paper that contains a symbol. That symbol will transport you directly to my home where you and I will meet face to face. All you have to do is apply a single drop of blood to the symbol and it will do the rest. If you are not here within one hour, your parents will be nothing but a pile of ashes and I will hunt you down myself and kill you. _

_I advise you to head this warning Issei Hyoudou, because I have no room for patience. _

_~ R.P. _

Not a single sound was heard throughout the entire house as Issei stood as still as a statue with the letter still within his firm grasp with his fist clenching tighter and tighter as he re-read the letter. Neither Ddraig, Miraak, or Alex said a single word as tried to calm himself from his murderous thoughts, which was failing miserably.

Within Issei's mind, the three inner tenants could only watch as the inner library shook with tremendous tremors due to Issei's barely contained rage that was even making Alex a bit antsy. The dark sky above soon turned into a dark blood red as crimson clouds suddenly manifested just above the libraries shelves. Suddenly a large _'BOOM'_ resonated throughout the entire area as tiny droplets of liquid started pouring out of the clouds and onto the ground below, including the three tenants.

Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion under his hood as the droplets of mysterious liquid continued to trickle down from the crimson clouds. He brought up his arm and opened his hand in order to catch some of the liquid and brought it up to his mouth where he licked it clean off. His eyebrows scrunched up in further confusion as looked at his hand and saw that it had faint faces of red on it from where the liquid was.

"**What is it?"** asked Miraak from the side as he stared at Alex through his mask with his arms crossed. Behind him was Ddraig who was laying on the ground with his arms and legs crossed and his wings folded up while silently looking at the sky.

Alex quietly observed his hand as more of the liquid dripped from the clouds above before looking at Miraak with a knowing yet troubled frown.

"It's blood." He said with a low voice before looking back up at the red sky. "It's raining blood."

Back on the outside, Issei had already ripped the letter to pieces and was now holding the paper with the symbol on it while holding a kitchen knife in the other. A look of pure hatred and murder was plastered on his face as he glared at the symbol, as if trying to burn a hole through it. _'When I find the bastard who did this, I'm going to slowly rip him apart piece by piece. Then I'm going to feed each of those pieces to the Hounds while the Flies of Bo'laggoroth drink his blood by the swarm.' _

_**(Issei, I know that you are angry but you need to calm yourself or-) **_

'_Miraak, I was angry when those bullies made my life hell for three years straight. I was even more angry when my first grade teacher molested me when I was seven. But now… now I'm probably more passed off than I ever have been in my entire life. There is absolutely no way in hell that I can even come _close _to calming down until I see that asshole's corpse being swallowed whole by my Hermaeus Rift.' _And with that, Issei brought the knife up to his wrist and in one smooth motion, he sliced the veins beneath his skin where a small pool of blood formed on his skin before the cut instantly healed a second later due to his Blacklight. He then dripped the blood onto the paper where a bright light suddenly erupted from the symbol and temporarily blinded Issei.

A few moments later the house was completely deserted, except for the lone sound of the paper hitting the floor.

* * *

_**Underworld, Phenex Arena **_

A bright flash emanated in the middle of a stone floor as Issei groggily rubbed the blur out of his eyes before focusing on where he was. He looked around and saw that he was in the middle of some sort of large stone arena that was surrounded by stone carvings of what looked like giant chess pieces. The sky above was also a dark blue in which Issei assumed was night time, wherever the hell he was.

"Ah, it looks like you've made it." A voice said from the sidelines. Issei turned his head and narrowed his eyes dangerously as he saw a blonde haired guy wearing a red tuxedo and slacks approach him with an arrogant smirk on his face and his hands in his pockets. "Hmph, so this is the great Issei Hyoudou I've been hearing so much about. I must say, you look even weaker in person. Such a shame too, I was hoping for a good fight."

Up in one of the many stands, Sirzechs Lucifer, his wife Grayfia, and many other High-Class Devils watched in silent anticipation for finally being able to see who holds the mysterious power they've been feeling all these years yet slight disappointment when they saw that it was held within a young, scrawny-looking teenage human boy who looked like he couldn't harm a fly. But Sirzechs was not so easily fooled, as he knew that looks could be easily deceiving. He wasn't given the title Lucifer for nothing.

In the Occult Research Building, Rias, along with her peerage and the entire Student Council were watching through TV screens they conjured up using magic. Out of all the Devils present, Rias was the most worried. She still couldn't believe that her older brother had let Riser gone and done something so stupid and foolish. Simply challenging to fight Issei because of his own arrogance and a power that Issei didn't even know he had. And now because of that power, there was a huge chance that Issei could die. And it was all Riser's fault.

Back in the arena, Issei directed all of his murderous intent through a glare that seemed hot enough to melt even the strongest metal and sent it flying towards Riser, who seemed to only shiver slightly under his intense gaze.

"Listen you blonde-haired asshole, I'm in no mood to be fucked with right now, so give me back my parents and I _might_ let you leave with all of your limbs attached to your body." Issei growled in low threatening voice that would make the Devil himself run in terror.

In turn, Riser only scowled deeply at the insult and sent his own burning glare towards Issei. "Such an impudent little brat. Do you even know who I am? I am Riser Phenex! Second son of the noble Phenex Clan! The most powerful family in the Underw-"

_***SMACK***_

That was all Riser was able to say before he was brutally punched in the face with such force that he flew backwards at a blinding speed and smashed right into through the concrete wall that surrounded the entire arena.

Gasps could be heard echoing throughout the surrounding stands as every Devil that were watching the event take place, including those at the Occult Research Building, widened their eyes and drop their jaws in complete shock after witnessing what seemed like a normal human boy actually _punch_ a High-Class Devil with inhuman force through a wall. Even Sirzechs could not help but stare disbelieving at the boy who simply held out his fist and glared at the hole that he sent Riser flying through.

Suddenly a large ball made completely out of fire shot out from behind the wall and straight towards Issei. After years of constant training with his abilities, Issei was able to quickly side step and evade the ball of fire just as it was about to make contact.

"YOU INSOLENT BRAT! YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THAT!" yelled an infuriated male voice. Issei hooked up and was surprised to Riser flying in the air with wings made of pure fire. He was currently holding the left half of his face where Issei had punched him that was somehow regenerating using flames that actually came from within his body, as if he was made of the stuff. His scowl had only become fiercer and was now clenching his teeth while directing all his own anger through a half of a glare.

Issei however, was having none of it and pointed his finger up at Riser. "I don't give a damn who you are or what god-forsaken family of abominations you come from! GIVE ME BACK MY PARENTS RIGHT NOW BEFORE I GAUGE OUT YOUR EYEBALLS AND RIP OUT YOUR ORGANS THROUGH THE SOCKETS!"

Suddenly the entire area began to tremble slightly after Issei had made his gory declaration. As if something was causing the ground shake beneath their feat, which had startled most of the Devils present and made Sirzechs wonder if this whole thing was such a good idea in the first place.

Riser however was completely unaffected. Mostly because he was flying, but also because the Underworld was known for having slight earthquakes (or in this case, _Hellquakes_) every now and then, so he simply brushed in off.

"Hmph, out of the question brat. You see, we've known a lot about you for quite some time. Ever since that enormous power fluctuation seventeen years ago we have been watching and waiting to find out who or what held that strange power. And not just us Devils, the Angels and Fallen Angels have all taken notice of the mysterious power you have possessed and have been interested to know as well, hell I wouldn't be surprised if even a few Gods have sensed it as well. Our curiosity only peaked as the power continued to grow and grow as each year passed, and you know what? It absolutely _infuriated _me. To know that there was something out there that was more powerful than a God made me so _angry_ that I just wanted to come up there and kill you myself. To show everyone that you were nothing but a mere illusion! I just simply had to figure out a way to get you to come to me. And what better way to do that then to capture your beloved parents!"

Before Issei could respond, a large screen suddenly materialized out of nowhere in front of him and what he saw made him want to scream.

His parents were held in some sort of room that was surrounded in concrete walls and metal bars. The only score of light was from the nearby torches that were hanging on the walls.

But that wasn't what caught his attention.

His parents were laying on the cold and hard ground in the darkness of the cell. Their clothes were torn and their bodies were littered with numerous cuts, gashes and bruises, as if they were mercilessly beaten before being thrown into the cell. He could even see his dad's glasses, which were broken in half and had small holes in the specs. His mom's hair tie that she normally wore was nowhere to be seen and he could vaguely spot hints of blood that were stained on his mother's long brown hair. They just laid there on the ground, not moving a single inch. Almost as if they were beaten to death.

A single tear made its way down Issei's face before the apocalypse started.

* * *

**Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry I took so long to update. I've been busy playing video games and spending time with my family on Thanksgiving break. Plus I've been having a lot of homework lately so I haven't really had time for writing. But I'm here now and I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as I can so I hope you enjoyed this one and I'll see you all next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Hell Hath No Fury **

The ground shook and cracked as unbelievable tremors littered the entire arena as well as most of the entire Underworld. The sky above slowly turned from a crimson red into a deep midnight black while more clouds manifested above and began to swirl into a giant raging vortex, creating a single giant hole of complete darkness that glared down at the arena. The wind began to pick up speed as it blew almost hard enough to knock every Devil in the stands off their feet. Their hearts beat wildly inside of their chests as they began to rise from their seats and scamper around the isles of the stands in fear as the sudden storm continued to shake the entire Underworld. Even the most strong-hearted and brave-minded higher class Devils were receiving heavy chills that crawled down their spines.

_***BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM***_

Every Devil in the arena froze within their tracks and looked up into the sky, only to gape their mouths in complete shock and fear as large bolts of lightning began spewing out of the large hole within the vortex. Only what struck more fear and paranoia into the Devils was that the lighting was a green in color and seemed to only be striking one place instead of a bunch. Their gazes followed the lighting's trail and widened their eyes even further when they saw that it was literally striking the human boy that was standing motionless within the middle of the arena and didn't at all seemed be fazed in the slightest as the large bolts of green electricity continued to rain down on him, as if he was completely ignoring them.

Issei stood completely motionless as possible as he clenched his teeth and fists, so hard that a couple of his teeth began cracking under the high pressure while his knuckles turned bare white and his nails burrowed into his skin, causing a few drops of blood to drip from his hands. His head was down and his hair casting a shadow over his eyes. His entire body trembled in uncontrollable anger, rage, pain, and agony. But the one emotion that he felt the most was confusion.

Why were these peo…no, these _monsters_ doing this to him? Why had they kidnapped his parents, beat them to a bloody pulp, and throw them in a cell just to get to him? Why?! He hadn't done a single thing to any of them! SO WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY DOING THIS?! WAS IT JUST FOR FUN?! PLEASURE?! BOREDOM?! DIDTHEY ENJOY WATCHING INNOCENT PEOPLE SUFFER?!

As Issei continued to tremble in his barely contained rage, a black surge of energy began to ripple throughout his entire body. In contrast to the vortex, the energy began to slowly spiral around along with the energy from the green lighting that was still continuing to strike at his body from above. The energy from both forces only seemed to get stronger each minute as his anger kept growing. The Devils around him only seemed to fuel his burning rage as he began to conjure up over a thousand ways to brutally murder each and every single one of them.

Ripping off their heads and stomping them into paste.

Hanging them by their intestines.

Drowning them in their own blood.

Beating them to death with their own limbs.

Roasting them alive over an open fire.

Chaining them under boiling water.

VAPORIZING THEM IN ELECTRICITY.

DROWNING THEM IN HOLY WATER.

SCALPING THEM WITH A RUSTY KNIFE.

IMPALING THEM WITH SPEARS.

**RIPPING OUT THEIR HEARTS AND FEEDING THEM TO THE HOUNDS BECAUSE THEY DON'T DESERVE ANY! **

Deep under the shadows of his hair, Issei's eye colored changed into a deep void of dark while his pupils constricted and rearranged themselves to form a single biohazard symbol in each eye.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"** All of that anger finally took advantage of Issei's piled up emotions and caused him to throw his head back up and unleash a booming murderous scream that sent a shockwave all throughout the entire arena and forcing all of the Devils onto the ground. The black and green swirling mass that surrounded his body shot outwards and made the stone around him rip out of the ground and shoot off into the distance with intense speed and force.

Sirzechs, along with his wife Grayfia and the parents of Riser Phenex, Lord and Lady Phenex, had to hold on to their chairs and railings for dear life as the intense force from the wind and power surge had almost knocked them onto their backs. The power was so cold and murderous that they literally had to fight with all of their strength in order to breathe. That, along with having to continuously keep themselves from being forcefully pushed off of the building was the equivalent of a normal human trying to lift a car. It was almost too much for them to bare. If it wasn't for their enhanced strength and stamina, they most certainly would've been thrown back the second the force had hit them.

'_This isn't what I wanted to have happened! What have I done!?' _Sirzechs frantically and shamefully thought to himself as he continued to hold on for his life.

Riser wasn't fairing any better. In fact, you could say he was doing a lot worse at trying to keep himself from being killed due to being the closest one to Issei after he literally exploded from all the anger he unleashed. Since he was flying, he too had to continuously work to keep himself from being pushed back by the extreme force along with dodging any and all debris that flew towards his way.

'_J-Just what the he'll IS this kid?! How is it that a lowly human can hold THIS much power?!'_ Riser thought to himself in actual fear as he tried to keep himself from falling. Not that he would EVER admit it to anyone else, but for the first time in his long immortal life he was actually starting to regret a decision he had made. He never would have thought that fighting a human-no…_ thing _such as this boy would have been this difficult. All he wanted to do was to prove to everyone that the boy was nothing but a fake and that the Phenex Clan were still the top dogs, or _birds_, in the Underworld.

Yet all of that confidence and arrogance seemed to have come crumbling down in a single fowl swoop.

"**RISSSSSSSEEEEEEEERRRRR!"** At the call of his name, Riser looked down and saw that the human named Issei was glaring up at him with absolute murder in his green eyes and was pointing a single finger at him while still clenching his teeth. The energy the spun around him became even more fierce as Issei pointed at him. **"YOU AND YOU'RE LITTLE DEVIL FUCKERS MADE A BIG FUCKING MISTAKE WHEN YOU KIDNAPPED MY PARENTS AND BEAT THEM TO A BLOODY PULP! AND FOR WHAT?! SO YOU COULD SIMPLY TEST ME?! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU'RE GOING TO WISH YOU NEVER FUCKING EXISTED!**

And with that declaration, the energy around Issei's body suddenly disappeared from existence as well as the constant strikes of lightning, leaving the entire arena submerged in complete silence.

But before anyone could utter a single word, a gigantic laser beam of green light suddenly shot out of the vortex in the sky and came crashing down with full force directly on top of Issei.

* * *

_**Space**_

Azathoth hummed his thousand mouths at once in complete satisfaction as he felt the power of his earthly champion drastically rise all at once. All of the pent up anger that the human had kept within himself over his entire was all being released in a single moment. It was all coming together. There was only one more step to be taken before the human could unleash his ungodly fury upon the abominations of the earth's underworld.

"_**Li to'm ha's coo'm mon Chapin', ot bag'in ta'r tranklo'muzion." (The time has come my Champion, to begin your transformation.)**_ He said in his deep otherworld voice before a large black hole suddenly opened up before him, soon revealing an upward sky view of the earth's Underworld through the eye of the giant vortex that was swirling from above. Azathoth then slowly raised one of his tentacles up to the black hole, where a large sphere of green energy suddenly formed at the end. The sphere continued to grow in size until it was suddenly formed into a large beam of light that shot straight through the hole and down at the ground where the human boy was standing.

Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath silently watched the transaction from the sidelines as their Master shot the large beam of energy through the black hole and directly at the human boy. Just like their Master, they too had felt the enormous burst of energy the boy had unleashed during his temper tantrum, not that they could blame him for his actions of course. Even though they were both colossal-sized alien gods, that didn't mean they still didn't have those that were close to them, especially for Shub. If a single one of her thousand young were killed, she would have blown up over a dozen planets out of complete anger and rage. No doubt that was what the human boy was about to do to the entire Underworld.

Yet for some reason when she first felt the boy's large power influx, she couldn't but find a slight attraction towards him. Like the force of all his power was drawing her to him like some sort of gravitational pull. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly feeling like this, only that she had never felt it before in her entire eternity of living. Not even when she was mated with Yog did she ever feel like this. But one thing was for sure. She would have to keep a closer eye on this human from now on.

Yog didn't really have an opinion of him either way. Sure the boy was powerful but that was only because of their Master, and without that he would just be another human. And that's all that the boy was to him at the moment, a simple human with some potential that he neither liked nor hated. However, he also didn't miss the slight twitch in Shub's composure after sensing the human's energy, something that he never really saw her do. And that alone was questionable and made him _slightly _curious as to how the human could have affected Shub, who was said to be the strongest of all the Great Old Ones and the Elder Gods.

Perhaps he too would need to keep a closer watch on the human as well.

* * *

_**Dimensional Gap**_

Within the endless, colorful space of the Dimensional Gap, a large red dragon with a single horn on its snout casually flew with ease while occasionally performing one or two spins, front and backflips. Its mouth let out a low grumble in satisfaction as it glided with an almost lazy ease.

From a distance, a voluptuous young women wearing an all-black Gothic-Lolita along with a purple headband glared at the dragon through her dark emotionless eyes while her eyebrows furrowed slightly into that in annoyance and anger as she continued to watch the red winged lizard perform its usual assortments of tricks.

"Stupid Red" she grumbled quietly to herself in her slightly deep sultry voice, though apparently it wasn't quiet enough as the dragon suddenly halted in its flying and turned its long neck to glare right back at the woman with its large emerald green eyes. It made a deep noise which sounded like a huff and was about to return to its flying when it suddenly sensed a large force of power out of nowhere, which made the dragon crane its neck and look directly into the direction it was coming from.

"This power… where is it coming from?" the large dragon said in a deep voice as it continued to float within the Gap.

"It, is him." Spoke a female voice from right beside him, which made the dragon slightly jump in surprise and turnips head, where it was once again surprised to see the dark clothed woman floating next to him staring in the same direction that he once was.

"Ophis?" asked the dragon in a slight confused tone as he stared at the woman. Optus however, paid him absolutely no attention as she kept on staring at the endless space within the Gap.

"This energy… it is, from that boy, that I saw, many years ago." She said in her emotionless tone, though the large dragon was able to catch a _slight_ bit of concern in her voice, which only confused him further.

'_Boy?'_ thought the dragon as he kept staring at Ophis. Though after seeing no further movement or response from her, the dragon soon went back to continue its endless flying, leaving Ophis in her little trance-like state. Though it was strange that something like this suddenly caught Ophis' attention. As far as he knew, the Infinite Dragon God was never one to be interested in anything except living forever alone in its eternal silence within the Dimensional Gap. And even though the red dragon would never admit it, he too was also curious as to where that power was coming from and why it felt so cold and dark. Almost as if it had a killing intent in it. But whatever it was directed towards, he didn't know.

Though there was one thing that Great Red, the Apocalypse Dragon, and the True Red Dragon God Emperor did know: he _almost_ felt sorry for whoever was on the receiving end of that full frontal murderous assault.

* * *

_**Heaven**_

"This power… it has become more powerful than before, and more destructive." Grunted Raphael as he, Michael, and Uriel tried to steady their breathing and maintain their composure as they too were affected by the tremendous force originating all the way from the Underworld.

Being high ranking Archangels and three of the seven guardians of the Throne of Heaven, they were normally used to coming into contact with any higher powers, yet this was on a much different level. It was unlike any of the three have ever sensed before. It was as if the Infinite Dragon God, Apocalypse Dragon, and Trihexia had combined together to form some sort of super God. And the fact that none of them knew where the power was coming from just made it worse.

"Those blasted Devils. They've really done it this time. I knew we should have finished them off as soon as we had the chance." Growled Raphael in one of his _rare_ moments of anger as he continued to hold himself against the sheer force of the Underworld. His anger quickly disappeared though as a hand was placed gently on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw that it was Uriel with a calm expression on his face, though Raphael could clearly see some trickles of sweat running down his head.

"Calm yourself my friend. It is not wise to act in such a manner at a time like this. For now we need to think of a strategic solution in order to bring an end to this madness."

"I agree." Said Michael nodding his head. "This is no time to be rash. We must find out what the Devils have done in order for this to happen. I propose that we gather a force of our strongest angels and go to the Underworld to see if we can't resolve the situation as quickly as possible."

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there, Michael." Said Uriel with a slight frown while shaking his head. "Traveling to the Underworld with a force of angels could very well be seen as an act of war. And war is something that we cannot afford to have once again."

"I understand your reasoning, Uriel, but whatever the Devils have done to unleash that much power in one place could be even more catastrophic than a war. Who or whatever holds that much power is directly on par with the Infinite Dragon God and the Apocalypse Dragon themselves. If we don't do something to end this quickly, then I'm afraid it might aim for Heaven next, or even the Earth. And both are definitely something we do not want to lose."

Uriel only lowered his head and closed his eyes in response. Although he didn't like it, there was logic within Michael's theory, and one being with enough power to not only destroy the entire Underworld but also Heaven and the Earth itself was indeed much worse than another war. So with some reluctance, he lifted his head and opened his eyes to stare into Michael's.

"You do seem to have a valid point my friend. Even though I still do not like it, it may as well be the only choice we have. So I'll agree to go along with it."

Michael in return smiled and patted Uriel on the shoulder. "Thank you Uriel. Now that it is settled, I believe I should go and-"

"Michael! Raphael! Uriel!" yelled a frantic voice from behind them. The three Archangels quickly turned around and saw a beautiful woman with a very voluptuous figure adorned in a female angelic outfit with long, curly blonde hair that reached down to her back along with a halo on top of her head as well as ten golden angel wings that protruded out of her back was running towards them. "Did you sense that enormous energy as well?" she asked in a gentle yet concerned voice as caught up to them.

The three other angels nodded their heads in confirmation while lifting their eyebrows up in surprise. "Gabriel, what are you doing here?" asked Michael in curiosity.

Gabriel, another one of the Archangels and guardians of the Throne of Heaven, as well as the most beautiful woman in Heaven and sister of Michael looked at her brother and two of her best friends with concern written all over her angelic face as she placed a hand over her well-developed chest. "This energy… it's so vast and overwhelming, and also very dark. But I can also sense great amounts of pain and suffering, and it worries me greatly." She said the last part in a sad tone while looking at the ground with an expression of great sadness.

The three other Archangels looked at her with eyes wide in great surprise. They knew that Gabriel was the best at sensing emotions and specific energies within any being out of all the angles, yet they did not know that she could detect so many painful emotions in this energy that nobody could figure out.

"We are worried just as much as you are, Gabriel." Said Raphael in a reassuring tone. "Before you arrived, we had just come to a conclusion on what we should do. It just so happens that the three of us, along with a force of our strongest angels will be going down to the Underworld in order to try to bring an end to this situation."

Gabriel's expression soon changed as she stared at her friend in surprise before setting her sights on her brother. "I'm going with you." She suddenly said, which made Raphael and Uriel widened their eyes in shock but caused Michael to only shake his head in disagreement.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Gabriel. The situation is critical enough as it is, and we cannot afford to send any more of our forces as we already are. Me, Raphael, and Uriel will be able to handle it ourselves, but you will need to remain here to support our remaining forces should an attack on Heaven present itself."

"I care for our home and our angels just as much as you do Michael, but you are still my only brother and Raphael and Uriel are two of my best friends. Besides Uriel, I am the best healer in all of the realm of Heaven, I couldn't bare it if any of you got hurt and I wasn't there to help you. I'm going whether you want me to or not." Said Gabriel firmly with a rare determination in her eyes.

"Gabriel-"

"Actually Michael, I would be more than happy to let Gabriel go in my place while I remain here." said Uriel, much to the surprise of Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

"Are you sure Uriel?" asked Michael.

"I did not really like the idea of going to the Underworld in the first place. And you said yourself, Heaven is going to need all the angels it can get invade of an impending attack, and I am the best healer here after all. I have complete faith that Gabriel will be able to do just as much good as I can, if not more." He said with a bit or pride, which made a warm smile crawl unto Gabriel's face as she hugged the Archangel.

"Thank you, Uriel. That means a lot to me." She said quietly, while Uriel simply smiled and hugged her back.

"It's my pleasure, my dear. Now the three of you best hurry. There's no telling what is happening down there and I would for this to end as quickly as possible."

"Agreed." Said Michael nodding once more. "As I was saying before, Raphael should go and gather the warrior angels before meeting Gabriel and I at the main gate. Uriel, you will be in charge while I'm gone. And make sure you inform Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel of the situation as well. I don't want them worrying too much while we're gone."

Uriel nodded before taking a low bow to Michael. "It shall be done, my friend. Good luck, and be safe. You as well Gabriel, Raphael." And with that he took his leave and walked out of the Throne room. As soon as he was gone, Raphael turned back towards the angel siblings. "I will go and rally our warriors. We will meet by the gates in an hour." After that he too left the Throne room, leaving the siblings to talk amongst themselves.

"I hope we aren't too late." Gabriel quietly said to herself with her voice once aging filling with worry, though Michael was clearly able to hear her.

"As do I Gabriel, as do I." said Michael as he went back to looking out of the Throne room's balcony.

* * *

_**Azazel's Warehouse**_

Just like in Heaven and the Underworld, the Fallen Angels of Earth had also sensed the tremendous spike in Issei's energy, and it unnerved them quite a bit.

Deep within the warehouse, Azazel, along with Kalawarner, Raynare, Mittelt, and Dohnaseek were all seated along a table in a large room. Azazel was simply leaning his head on his arm with his eyes closed with a troubled expression on his face, though to the rest it looked like he was sleeping. Kalawarner sat on his right, her entire body slightly shaking due to the enormous pressure, Raynare was on his left and was trying to steady her breathing, Dohnaseek was on Raynare's right and was literally sweating up a storm. He was so hot that he had to take off his trench coat, which was a big surprise to everyone else in the room, even to Azazel since he never took it off no matter how hot it was. Mittelt however was the worst of all four. She was sitting up against the wall while her body trembled even more than Kalawarner's and she looked as though she was a bout to cry. A few tears had escaped her bright blue eyes and one or two quick sobs would occasionally escape her lips, though she made sure that no one would hear.

A heavy silence filled the entire room as no one even made an attempt to say a single word. They were all too preoccupied into trying to calm themselves from the large pressure that was building up from the power outburst down in the underworld. Whatever the Devils did would no doubt cause trouble in the future. And that was something they couldn't have.

A sudden noise brought everyone out of their stupor as they looked up to see Azazel getting out of his seat and making his way towards the exit. But before he could reach it, Raynare's voice made him stop.

"L-Lord Azazel? Where are you going?" she asked as her face continued to sweat.

Azazel simply stood silently rooted in his spot with his back towards the four fallen angels and his hands in his pockets. A few minutes passed by before he finally answered. "I want you four to clean yourselves up. Then I want you to gather some of our guards before meeting me in front of the warehouse. We're going to the Underworld to see just what the hell's going on." He said in an almost demanding tone before walking out the front door, leaving the four other angels to simply gawk in surprise. They had never heard Azazel speak in such a manner as he just did, so this must have been serious enough to draw out that side of them.

With one last glance at each other, the four angels quickly regained their composure before complying with their Master's orders. While they themselves were wondering just what was going on.

* * *

_**Underworld**_

The entire Underworld shook even harder than before as the enormous beam of green light continued to shoot through the vortex and into the ground below, directly on top of Issei Hyoudou. It was almost too much for everyone witnessing the event as no one had ever seen anything so tremendous in their immortal lives. The mere sight of the giant pillar of green life was enough to take every single Devil's breath away.

As the ground beneath him continued to shake, Riser was trying to figure just what had transpired in the last hour. When he first came here, the human brat couldn't even form a good insult that was worth the dirt beneath his shoes, now it seemed like the kid had enough power to be on par with the Infinite Dragon God itself, maybe even the Apocalypse Dragon at the same time, and that was something that only made him angrier. To know that there was a mere human who was just as powerful as a God was enough to send him over his boiling point.

He was going to burn this human. And he was going to do it _very_ slowly.

_***SWOOOOOOOOOSH***_

Riser, along with every other Devil in the area looked in shock, relief, and confusion as the large beam of light suddenly disappeared out of nowhere along with the large vortex of clouds that was covering the entire sky. The sky's color soon returned to its normal hue of dark red and the tremors in the earth had soon stopped, leaving nothing but a wary silence to fill around the Phenex mansion. The arena, if it could even be called that anymore, was in complete ruins. The surrounding walls were reduced to nothing but ash and gravel, the stone floor was completely torn up as pieces of rock and land were littered all over the place. Even the Phenex mansion itself had its fair share of holes, scratches, dents, and gashes. Even a few stray pieces from the arena had managed to lodge themselves into the mansion's walls and windows.

What caught everyone's attention though was a large crater directly in the center of the arena that was covered in a thick cloud of smoke. So think that no one could see through it.

_***woooosh***_

A sudden wind caught the Devils by surprise as it blew through the arena with a light wisp. They were at least thankful that it was nowhere near as strong as it was a while ago but it was still strong enough to blow the remaining smoke out of the crater.

What they saw within it however, would be forever burned within their memories.

Instead of the human boy, who they thought was completely vaporized by the beam, standing there within the center of the crater as still as a statue was what could only be described as a demon. It was over a foot taller than Riser, at least seven feet high. Instead of two arms, it now had six with two on each side of its torso that reached all the way down to its knees while its hands were now sharp claws. It had long, skinny yet firmly built legs while claws were also seen at its feet, completely replacing the toes, with an extra claw growing on the left foot's right side and right foot's left side. Its chest, back, upper arms and upper legs were as white as snow while its lower arms and lower legs were completely pitch black, though if one were to look closer, they could clearly make out a bunch of pulsating veins that were glowing a bright red within the black parts of its limbs. At the center of its chest was a medium-sized black circle that also had some sort of black tribal marking that grew out from the circle and extended all throughout the white parts of the creatures limbs. Two giant bat wings that were also laced with red veins were protruding out of the creatures back and extended about five feet on each side of its body. The line of its mouth was now completely replaced with a row of pure white razor-sharp teeth that extended all the way up to its nose. Its eyes were a deep hue of green with a black outline of a biohazard symbol replacing the pupils. Below its eyes were two rough lines of black that went down to its mouth, looking like someone had cried while wearing black eyeliner. One each side of its temples was a single jagged black horn that grew in a direct upwards motion, except the right horn was a few inches taller than the left. Its most bizarre feature however, was its hair. Instead of tiny strands of fiber, where now literally hundreds of small dark green, almost black tentacles that were each single in a wild wave like motion in each and every direction. Almost like the mythological creature Medusa except the snakes were replaced by tentacles.

All in all, the once human boy was now replaced by a full-fledged demon.

Riser and the other Devils stared in awe, fear, and disgust at the monster as it continued to stand motionless within the crater, not doing so much as blinking or twitching, but what did chill them to the core was that it was staring directly at Riser, not once looking anywhere else for a second.

Riser stared right back at the beast with his eyes wide and his lips quivering, almost like he was ready to cry. But instead or shedding tears, he did something that not even the Devils expected: he started laughing. Laughing like a madman.

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SO THIS IS YOUR TRUE FORM IS IT ISSEI HYOUDOU?! AFTER ALL THIS TIME YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO SHOW YOUR TRUE SELF! HOW INVIGURATING! I MUST SAY THOUGH IT IS TRULY I SIGHT TO BEHOLD! NEVER WOULD I HAVE IMAGINED THAT YOU WERE LITERALLY THIS UGLY AND ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING TO LOOK AT! IT'S AS IF THE VERY THING THAT CREATED YOU SIMPLY CHEWED YOU UP AND SPAT YOU OUT AND SAID 'THERE, ALL DONE'! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The way he laughed sent shiver of slight fear down the other Devils' spines as well as anger and annoyance to Sirzechs. He was about to get up and call out to Riser, only he stopped as soon as he saw the transformed Issei suddenly move.

In a single movement, the demon Issei raised a single one of his long arms and pointed its clawed figure directly at Riser, who stopped laughing and was now look back at Issei with a simple raised eyebrow. After a twitched of its toothed mouth, the demon then spoke in a deep, echoing voice.

"_**Be'mun ta" (Behind you)**_

Riser however didn't understand a single bit of it. "What was that?" he asked.

"_**Be'mun ta" **_it repeated.

Riser still didn't understand what it said but he turned his head to see whatever the demon was pointing at.

_***Bzzzzzt* **_

Only to quickly turn his head back around after hearing a sudden buzzing sound and was shocked to find that the demon had just disappeared out of nowhere.

"What the fu-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in pain as a giant metal blade was impaled straight through his chest. His regenerative abilities kicked in immediately and was about to try to escape until a large clawed hand suddenly grabbed his entire face and started squeezing. No matter how much he moved or thrashed he couldn't seem to escape from the deadly vice grip that he was trapped in. He could hardly even breathe as the large palm completely covered his mouth and nose. More intense pain suddenly made its way onto his face as the large metal claws began to burrow themselves into Riser's face, the worst part was that he couldn't even scream do to his mouth being covered. The claws continued to sink into his face until they were suddenly ripped free, drawing a line of blood and flame.

"GAAAAHHHHH! YOU LITTLE- **GET OFF ME!" **Riser screamed at the top of his lungs before concentrating on his flames and shooting scorching hot Hell-Fire out of his back. The sudden rise in heat caused the demon to retract his blade arm out of Riser's chest and teleporting a good distance away from the Phenex child, who was bent over and grabbing his chest and face in extreme pain. His regenerative abilities were working full force, yet that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Once the regeneration was complete, Riser stood back up and glared murderously at the demon who was simply looking back at him with its usual neutral expression, still not even blinking once. With a ferocious growl, Riser lifted his arm into the sky where a large ball of Hell-Fire soon formed within his palm and directed it directly towards the demon.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE FOR THAT YOU LITTLE PUNK-**GACK!**" The large fireball suddenly disappeared from Riser's grasp as quickly bent over and grabbed his chest in excruciating pain. Suddenly, a large black line formed straight down his chest where Issei had stabbed him, which suddenly caused his flame wings to disappear where he began plummeting towards the hard ground below. The other Devils could only stare in shock and fear as one of the most prestigious members of the Phenex Clan fell towards the earth.

_***CRACK* **_

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"** screamed Riser in absolute pain as he hit the ground. His body was an absolute mess. Both of his arms were bent in the opposite directions while both his legs were twisted beyond repair. A deep gashes could be found in his arms and legs and a steady flow of blood came pouring out, making four small crimson puddles around him. Though you couldn't see, a couple pieces of sharp rock had managed to hurry themselves deep within his chest after his hard landing. It felt as if he were stabbed by a dozen small knives at once. He desperately tried use his regenerative abilities yet no matter how hard he tried the flames wouldn't come.

All in all it looked as though he were hit by a truck and sent flying into a ditch.

_***bzzzzzt***_

With what little strength he could muster, Riser lifted his pain-filled head to see what made the sudden noise, only to widen his eyes in horror when he saw that he was looking directly up at the eyes of the pale demon that mangled his entire body. The demon in turn, simply stared back down at Riser with his blank green eyes that still weren't even blinking with his head tilted to the side.

For the first time in his entire immortal life, Riser could honestly say that he was scared beyond all reasoning. Never before had he ever felt fear as strong as he was feeling now. And right now it was as if he was staring at the face of death itself.

"P-Please! S-Spare me!" he pleaded to the demon with all of the breath that he could gather within his lungs.

_***CRACK***_

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"** Riser screamed in even more pain and agony as the demon curb stomped its foot directly on top of Riser's arm, completely severing it from the rest of his body. The now useless limb laid lifelessly in a pool of blood that was flowing out of the severed bone, veins and arteries. Small chunks of muscle and bone could be seen flowing inside of the crimson puddle.

Sadly it wasn't done yet. The demon then stepped over the severed arm and walked behind Riser's body where it lifted one of its arms over Riser's legs. Its arm began rippling with black and red tendrils before it once aging took the form of a giant metal blade in the shape of a cleaver. With one swift motion, the demon swung its large blade straight down on Riser's legs.

_***SCHLINK***_

Riser didn't even have the energy or the breath to scream anymore and simply grit his teeth and bit down on his lips in ungodly pain. He could feel all of the feeling slowly leaving his as the blood slowly poured out of the open veins and arteries in his legs. His heartbeat becoming even weaker by the second as it continuously tried to pump more of the crimson liquid throughout the remainder of his body in order to keep him alive. Sadly it was all for not as the blood continued to leave his body.

"P-Please….j-just, k-kill m-me." Said Riser as the light in his vision began to fade. As if suddenly growing a heart within the whole in its chest, the demon reformed its blade arm back to normal before using its other arms to grab Riser by the throat and slowly lift him up off of the ground. The blood that was dripping from his severed limbs began to leak out more fiercely as he came face to face with the demon.

The other Devils in the stands were silently waiting in fearful anticipation to see if the demon would finish the job while others had to quickly vacate the area due to throwing up the contents of their stomachs after witnessing all of the blood and severed limbs. Many of them had actually tried praying in order to thank God that it wasn't them down there, which only caused them to grab their heads in pain since Devils can't pray.

Sirzechs was feeling a mix between all three. He was horrified that this had all gone so wrong so fast yet he was thankful that he wasn't on the receiving end of the large blade, which made him almost vomit in disgust after seeing all of the blood. Grayfia had left minutes ago in order to vacate her stomach of all of the acidic bile while Lord Phenex was busy trying to comfort his wife, who's entire body was shaking into horrible sobs and she cried in her husband's chest after witnessing what had happened to her son.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"

_***SNAP* *CRACK* *SQUISH* **_

The Devils looked down into the destroyed arena in even more horror as the demon smashed what was left of Riser's still living body into the ground and began mercilessly beating it into a bloody pulp. One by one, the demon used each and every one of its six arms to beat his body with untamed force that more chunks of skin, bone, and blood began flying out of onto the ground in a sick, horrific crimson pool, while some of it actually stuck to the demon's fists as it continued beating it.

Suddenly the demon's six arms began to violently pulse as black and red vein-like tendrils erupted from its skin and surrounded what was left of Riser's violently beaten body. Much to the Devil' increased horror, the tendrils began ripping away at the body in large bloody chunks that caused most of the Devils to bend over and puke in utter disgust in horror. Even Akeno, who had watched the entire fight along with the ORC and the Student Council, couldn't hold it in anymore and had to quickly vacate the area in order to empty out her stomach.

After what seemed like a gory eternity, the rest of Riser's body was completely absorbed within the demon's tendrils, which retracted and disappeared back into its six arms. After a moment of silence, the demon suddenly doubled over and grabbed its head in pain as numerous of Riser's memories flowed through its mind.

* * *

"_Xuelan, Mira, Marion." Said a strict Riser Phenex with his arms crossed as he spoke to three very oddly dressed women in front of him. "Go to the human world, find out where this Issei Hyoudou lives and bring him here, by force if you have to. And if he isn't there, then be sure to capture anyone who might seem close to him as a means of getting him to come here. Also make sure you leave this at wherever he resides." He then handed one of the women a brown piece of paper with a strange black circular symbol on it. "This mission is critical so failure will absolutely not be tolerated. Am I clear?" he asked with his tone rising at the last question. _

_In response the three women quickly nodded in complete understanding. "Yes, Lord Riser." They said in unison before transmitting away via magic circle._

* * *

The pain in the demon's head came to an abrupt stop before slowly lifting its head and, for the first time, squinted its eyes and let loose a low growl of anger before suddenly transmitting away and disappearing from the arena, much to the sock and confusion of the surrounding Devils.

* * *

_**Hidden chambers below the Phenex mansion**_

Xuelan stood guard in front of the cell that contained the parents of Issei Hyoudou along with Mira and Marion with a triumphant smirk on her face. Earlier today after they had successfully captured Issei's parents, they had immediately brought them back to the mansion in shackles where they had been strapped to chairs and immediately interrogated for any information regarding their son. Unfortunately, being the stubborn humans that they were, they refused to answer anything they were asked and instead lashed out at the three women demanding to be let go and asking them what they wanted with their son. In response to that, the three Phenex peerage members used their enhanced strength to beat the two parents into unconsciousness before throwing them straight into a cold, hard cell. They still had yet to awaken even after being locked in there for about two hours. Not that it mattered to her anyway since she was tempted to break both their necks right then and there. Sadly, they were still needed to lure in Issei Hyoudou and she didn't want to anger her master.

_***Boom***_

A slight booming noise caused the three women to quickly straighten their postures as they looked around the room for whatever caused the noise. They noticed however that the ground had slightly shook that caused some dust to be kicked off the ceiling, so they deduced whatever it was to be coming outside.

Their heightened senses immediately peeked and chills of fear were sent down all of their spines when they suddenly heard the sounds of loud blood-curling screams.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS-_** *HACK* **_

"GET OUT! EVERYBODY GET OUT- _***SLASH* **_

"IT'S KILLING EVERYBODY! SOMEBODY GET- _***STAB***_

"W-What the hell is going on out there?!" asked Marion in a panicked state as her entire body trembled in fear.

"I don't know. But whatever it is it sounds like it's heading this way." Said Xuelan nervously as she brought up her fists in a fighting stance. Mira simply remained quiet and raised her staff in her own battle stance while Marion also brought up her fists, yet still slightly trembling. Silence dawned on the entire chamber as no one dared to make a single sound while still waiting for whatever was causing the outbreak upstairs to come to them.

_***BOOOM***_

Using their enhanced reflexes, the three women were barely able to dodge the chamber's metal exit door that came flying towards them at high speeds, nearly hitting Marion's foot but successfully breaking down the cell's metal bars that held Issei's parents. Both fortunate enough to not be hit by the flying door.

The three fighters quickly got up to their feet and back into their battle ready positions while setting their sights on the chamber's entrance, only to be confused when they saw that nothing was their except for a large cloud of dust that was slowly floating to the ground.

Mira, standing behind the other two women, slowly lowered her staff and looked around the room to still find the place completely empty except for her, Xuelan, and Marion, who too were looking all over the room for any possible intruders. Mira looked behind her and saw that the two human were still laying unconscious on the cell's concrete floor, though both were now slightly buried under a pile of the cell's broken metal bars.

Taking one more look around the room to make absolutely sure that no one was there, Mira set her staff back on the ground before turning back to her two companions.

"Well, it looks like nobody's he-_***SLASH***_

Xuelan and Marion could only gap their mouths and widened their eyes in complete horror when Mira's head suddenly came flying off of her shoulders and tumbling to the ground. Her severed face now completely frozen into her usual bored-looking expression that she always worse. Her headless body stood lifelessly for a few seconds before also falling down to the ground while blood sprayed out of her open neck like a water fountain, creating a crimson pool around her head and body.

It only took a few seconds for the two other women to realize what had happened before Marion let loose a high-pitched scream loud enough to shatter glass, with tears streaming down her eyes. Xuelan's entire body trembled in fear and turned a light shade of green before she quickly stumbled back and emptied the acidic contents of her stomach onto the ground.

_***SLASH***_

Marion's screaming suddenly came to a halt. Xuelan shakily brought up her head in fearful confusion, only to widen her eyes once again in absolute horror when she saw that Marion's entire body was suddenly split vertically in half straight down the middle. Everywhere she looked, she could see Marion's blood, intestines, guts, bones, and brain matter completely severed in half and drowned within an even larger crimson blue. The two bloodied halves of her body were somehow still slightly twitching as her once beautiful tan skin was replaced by red.

Xuelan quickly ejected more stomach bile from her body before letting loose her own high-pitched scream and quickly crawling backwards as far as her arms and legs could carry her.

_***tap***_

Xuelan's heart started beating a mile a second when she suddenly came into contact with something that felt nothing like a cement wall. Using her shaking hands, she slowly brought them up behind her to feel whatever it is she had bumped into.

Only for her to feel nothing but skin.

Her head was a sweating waterfall and she took a big gulp of her own saliva before she _very_ slowly lifted up her trembling head to look up.

The last thing she saw was an upside down pale-white horned head staring right down at her before a large blade was plunged deep into her face.

* * *

_**Phenex arena, fifteen minutes later **_

A dreadful silence reigned over the entire destroyed arena as the surrounding Devils vacated the area as quickly as they could. At the center of the arena, Sirzechs Lucifer himself stood staring down at the large crater that once contained the transformed Issei Hyoudou with a great saddened and disbelieving expression on his face.

To this moment he still had no idea what had gone. All he wanted was to test Issei Hyoudou and his newfound power by holding a simple fight between him and Riser. But after hearing what Riser had done in order to draw Issei into the Underworld, he knew he had made a grave mistake. He knew that Riser wanted to fight him but he wouldn't have allowed him to do so if that meant hurting innocent people in the process. Yes, Sirzechs was a Devil but that didn't mean he enjoyed taking lives. Such a thought of him hurting an innocent person made him cringe in disgust.

If it wasn't for Issei Hyoudou's rage, Sirzechs would have killed Riser himself.

And now because of Riser's foolish mistake, he along with several other Devils were now dead, and the entire Phenex arena along with some of Phenex mansion were now destroyed. This was due to cause a major blow in morale in the near future.

_***bzzzzzzt***_

Sirzechs widened his eyes and quickly looked behind him to see the demonized Issei Hyoudou gently setting down what looked like his parents onto the ground. Upon closer inspection, Sirzechs saw that both were severely beaten to about an inch of their lives, something that made him only even more terrified and thankful that Issei hadn't blown up everything within a ten mile radius. He was debating about whether or not to go over a provide assistance until he Issei raise one of his hands over the two unconscious humans where a bright green light flowed out of his hand and over his parents. Sirzechs widened his eyes further when he saw that all of their injuries had healed up instantly. Both of their chests were steadily rising and falling with steady breathing to make it appear like they were only sleeping. The light disappeared from Issei's hand and he stood back up, not once removing his unblinking gaze from his parents.

Now deciding to take the chance, Sirzechs swallowed a nervous lump in his throat before carefully walking forward and speaking up to get Issei's attention.

"Issei Hyoudou…"

_***HACK* *SLASH***_

Sirzechs took a moment to blink before slowly looking down and widening his eyes in horror when he saw both of his arms were now completely severed and laying lifelessly in the ground in a pool of his own blood. The stumps that used to be his arms where now hanging beside his body slowly dripping blood. But before he could even scream, a large pale hand tightly gripped his throat and lifted him up, only to be slammed down on the ground with a lethal force high enough to crack the cement and to render the Devil King unconscious.

The demon stood over the crimson haired Devil with his blade arm at his side. It was only a matter of time before all those responsible for causing pain to its loved ones were dead and gone. It was no wonder why Lord Azathoth despised these creatures so. They were horrible and uncaring abominations who only seek to gain for themselves whether it was by so called 'peace' or by force. They didn't care at all about any other lives except for their own and it didn't matter to them if innocent people were killed as long as they got what they wanted.

It sickened him. Even though he too was a demon.

With those thoughts in mind the demon raised its blade arms over the unconscious Devil King and was prepared to finish the job once and for all.

_***ba-bump***_

Until it suddenly clutched its chest in pain as its nonexistent heart suddenly came beating to life. This caused his arm to revert back to normal and for a bright light to suddenly erupt from the whole in its chest where it soon covered its entire body. The demon thrashed and moaned in pain but no matter how hard it tried the light wouldn't disappear. A few moments later all movement ceased and the light was completely gone, revealing Issei in his shirtless human form. His skin was a tad paler than normal and his hair was now so dark it looked practically black. He was currently staring up at the Underworld's crimson sky with his unmoving and unblinking eyes that looked completely empty. A minute later there was a light _'thud'_ and Issei was now face down on the floor completely unconscious next to his parents and the dismembered Devil King, leaving the entire arena in silence once more.

A couple minutes went by before over a dozen white and purple magical circles surrounded the entire area.

* * *

**Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was busy with finals and I wanted to have a little time off on the first few days on winter break. But I finally found some time to update once again and here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for! I hope it was what you guys were expecting! **

**If you're wondering what Issei's demon form looks like, think of Ulquiorra Cifer's Segunda Etapa and Ichigo's Hollow Form from Bleach put together with an extra set of arms along with the hair being replaced by hundreds of tiny black tentacles. His teleportation is basically the Espada's version of Flash Step (I forgot what it was called), and his blade arm is the same as James Heller's except you replace the red tendrils with green. **

**Anyway, that's the chapter for right now and I hope you enjoyed it! See you all next time and Merry Christmas! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Recovery **

"_**Partner, can you hear me?!"**_

"**Issei, please awaken!"**

"Come on kid, wake up!"

Issei's head pounded like a jackhammer with pain as he groggily opened his eyes before taking a few moments to blink them into focus. Once he was clearly able to see, he soon saw that both Miraak and Alex were both standing over him while Ddraig's large scaled head was staring down at all three of them. Through the pain in his head, Issei could clearly make out a concerned look in Ddraig's wide emerald eyes while he was barely able to see Alex's widened eyes behind his hood. As always, Issei wasn't able to make out Miraak's expression due to his mask, though he could probably guess that the knight was also concerned for Issei's well-being.

"Ughhh….W-what…what the hell happened?" Issei asked as he slowly brought his shaking body off of the ground, with Miraak and Alex holding each of his arms for steady support. Once he was up, he placed his hands on both knees and took a couple breaths of relief as the pain in his head came to a steady stop. Once he was done, he straightened himself up before getting a bearing on his surroundings, only to be slightly surprised to find himself back in Hermaeus' Library.

"Sooooo….." Issei awkwardly began as he rubbed the back of his head. "Any of you guys mind telling me exactly what the fuck happened?"

Alex simply snorted and crossed his arms while furrowing his eyebrows behind his hood in annoyance and slight surprise. "You mean you don't remember? After seeing what that fire turkey Devil did to your parents you went completely bat-shit insane and beat the living fuck out of him. You even tore off a couple of his limbs and beat him to death afterwards."

Issei widened his eyes in horror and was about to respond until he suddenly hunched over and grabbed his head in agonizing pain. It was so intense that it felt as if his brain were about to explode within his skull.

"_Xuelan, Mira, Marion…"_

"…_go to the human world and find out where Issei Hyoudou lives…"_

"…_capture anyone who might seem close to him as a means of getting him to come here…"_

"_To know that there was something more powerful out there than a God made me so angry I just wanted to come up there and kill you myself!"_

"…_you were nothing but a mere illusion!"_

"_And what better way to do that than to capture your beloved parents?!"_

"_NEVER WOULD I HAVE IMAGINED THAT YOU WERE LITERALLY THIS UGLY AND ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING TO LOOK AT!" _

"_IT'S AS IF THE VERY THING THAT CREATED YOU SIMPLY CHEWED YOU UP AND SPAT YOU OUT…"_

Issei gritted his teeth in pain and anger as the memories flowed through his head. He remembered it all. He remembered the anger he felt when his parents were kidnapped. He remembered the shock, pain, and sadness that was in his heart after he saw their beaten and bloodied bodies lying unconscious in a prison cell. But the thing that he remembered the most was the intense anger and hatred he felt towards Riser. But after that he simply blacked out before waking back up in his inner library.

"That bastard." Issei growled while clenching his fists in anger. His eyes turned a dark, menacing green for a brief moment before returning back to normal. "He sent those three bitches to try to capture me but instead got a hold of my parents, dragged them all the way to hell, nearly beat them half to death and threw them into a fucking _cage_. All so he could fight me to prove who's better. I hope that I hurt him. I hope with every fiber in my _being_ that I ripped his entire body in half and beat him into bloody ashes with his own limbs. I hope his soul is rotting in the deepest, darkest, _blackest_ pits of hell or whatever other torturous afterlife he was sent to for all eternity. I'll never forgive him or any of those other Devils for what they did to me."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that, kid." Said Alex who was momentarily surprised by Issei's long tempered statement. "Remember when I said you went completely bat-shit insane and beat the living fuck out of the Phenex guy? Well I meant it. You turned into some weird, freaky horned bat-demon thing and completely destroyed everything around you, including the Phenex. You then broke into his house and murdered every Devil you saw until you broke your parents out of the cell and brought them back to the arena. _Then _your hand started glowing green, which I assume was some sort of healing ability because when it disappeared, your parents' injuries were completely gone. They looked completely fine except for their clothes being torn. After that the Devil with the scarlet-colored hair, the one who was responsible for allowing this entire thing to happen, tried to talk to you, you immediately cut both his arms of before smashing his head into the ground. And then you reverted back to your normal human form before passing out, leading you to come back here in your mind."

"Wait wait wait hold on…" said Issei with his hands up and his eyes wide while trying to divulge all the information he had just been given. "You said that I turned into some sort of _horned bat-demon_?"

"**Indeed."** Said Miraak from the side startling Issei out of his stupor. **"The demon that Mr. Mercer said you turned into was your transformation. Granted upon you by the Lord Azathoth himself. It seems that even **_**he **_** has deemed you worthy enough for such a thing to occur. Not only did it turn you into a completely different creature, but due to your already increasing power caused by your high levels of anger, it was also able to enhance your power to its maximum potential. With this you were able to render the immortal Phenex Devil into a mere mortal in less than ten minutes. Something that has almost never been done according to the Devils. For such a thing to occur would require the power level of at least a High-Class Devil."**

"_**I must admit…" **_said Ddraig while his large head still towered above the three. _**"A God from beyond Earth who is able to transform a human into an entire different being. Not even I have ever heard of such a thing." **_

Issei didn't know what to say or to do, except for hanging his mouth off its hinges and widening his eyelids to their full height. He was both speechless and delighted. Speechless because he couldn't quite believe that he was able to turn into some sort of demon and completely annihilate Riser and was delighted because he, well…completely annihilated Riser.

Now there was only the red-headed bastard to deal with.

"There's something else, kid." Said Alex. Issei looked back at with a questioning stare. "Right when Riser was about to die from blood loss, your demon form ended up consuming him."

That made Issei's eyes widen once again. "I…_consumed _him?"

"**That is correct, Issei." **Said Miraak nodding.** "And not only were you able to gain his memories, you were able to gain something else as well."**

Issei lifted a single questioning eyebrow. "What is it?"

"_**Tell us Issei." **_Said Ddraig. _**"During the entire time, have you ever noticed anything...different about the library?"**_

Issei was about to respond until he decided to take note of his surroundings. Now that he thought about it, the entire library did seem a bit…_brighter_ than before. He looked up and was shocked to see a large continuous line of fire that was burning brightly behind a wall of glass, which were both completely imbedded into the library's stone walls like some sort of homemade built-in fireplace. Trails of yellow, orange, red flickered on and off as the long line of fire spread all the around the inner libraries walls, completely illuminating the entire area above and below. The energy from the fire was so great that Issei could actually _feel _the heat radiating off the flames even though it was behind glass and at least thirty feet away. From the ground.

"Where did all that fire come from?" asked Issei in complete awe as he continued to gaze at the bright flames, completely mesmerized by their burning beauty.

"Don't know. It sort of just appeared after you consumed the Phenex Devil." Said Alex while shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Though I gotta' say it's nice to actually have some light in here. It was getting too dark and gloomy even for my tastes."

"_**Though the fire was not the only thing that was added, Issei. It seems you have gained a new ability as well." **_Said Ddraig.

"Really?" asked Issei in curiosity and slight excitement. "What did I get?"

"**To find out, simply focus your inner energy into either of your hands and flick your fingers."**

Issei raised a single eyebrow in confusion but shrugged a second later. Doing as he was told, Issei closed his eyes and took a moment to direct his energy. Though while doing so he suddenly felt that his energy wasn't as cold or as menacing as it was before. Now it actually felt calmer and even a bit warmer. Deciding to push this into the back of his mind for later, Issei continued to focus until he was successfully able to feel his energy enter his right hand. Opening his eyes, Issei brought up his right hand and twiddled his fingers together.

A moment later a _'snap' _was heard before a small yellow flame flickered to life above Issei's fingers.

"What the hell…" said Issei in shock as he stared at the tiny flame.

"**It is as it seems, Issei." **said Miraak.** "Because you consumed the Phenex Devil, you have gained the power over Hell itself. You now have complete control over the unquenchable flames of damnation itself."**

* * *

_**Phenex Arena, outside Issei's body**_

Violet and white magical circles appeared out of thin air over the destroyed arena. The bodies of Issei and his parents continued to remain motionless as chaos continued to rain down on the entire area. Any Devils that were still alive were busy either healing any wounded (if they were lucky to even _find_ any), or trying to repair any and all damage that was done to the arena and the Phenex mansion. Grayfia had already taken her dismembered and unconscious husband back to the house of Gremory in order to be healed while leaving Issei and his parents still lying on the ground. After what she had witnessed she hadn't even attempted to check up on the unconscious Issei, fully convinced that he would be able to heal on his own due to his intense power level.

A moment later, the purple and white magical circles disappeared, revealing the three angelic figures of Michael, Raphael, Gabriel along with their small force of high ranking angelic warriors. On the opposite side, Azazel stood with Kalawarner, Mittelt, Raynare, and Dohnaseek at his sides along with their own force of dark angels at their backs.

It took both sides a full minute to comprehend what they were seeing before they swiftly pulled their weapons on each other. Holy Swords and Spears of Light were held tightly within each angel's grasp as they stared down at one another, daring anyone to make one wrong move.

"Azazel." Said Michael in a firm tone as high slightly narrowed his eyes at the fallen angel governor. "Why is it that you are here? And with an army no less?"

Azazel simply crossed his arms and snorted in amusement with a smirk on his face. "Well now, this certainly is a surprise. It would seem that we both traveled to the Underworld with the same intentions. What a coincidence this is."

"A coincidence indeed." Said Raphael who gripped the hilt of his Holy Sword a bit tighter. "But that still does not explain why it is you brought an army with you."

"You're one to talk _Ralphy_. The Leader of Heaven himself, God's Healer, the Strongest Woman in Heaven, along with a force of your strongest angels? I may have an army, but that also doesn't explain why Heaven's leader himself, the other two of the seven Archangels and a force of Heaven's strongest angels are here either. IF you were to ask me I'd say that you came here with the intention of starting another war."

"We came to do no such thing." Spoke Michael in his soft yet firm voice while narrowing his eyes slightly more. "In fact it was quite the opposite. We have been sensing this enormous influx of power for quite some time and just recently it has greatly increased. We believe that the Devils might have done something to cause this catastrophe and we wanted to make sure that it wouldn't cause any extensive damage." He then took a quick glance at Azazel's angels before looking back to him. "And it appears that you have done the same."

"Smart and perceptive as always, Michael. You haven't changed a bit." Azazel smiled his usual lazy smile before changing it into a rare expression of seriousness. "But yes, we have also sensed the large outburst of power as well. I had a feeling that maybe Sirzechs or Falbium, knowing them, had done something stupid so I wanted to make sure that they hadn't completely screwed themselves over. Plus I decided to bring a little extra backup just in case." He then turned his attention towards the destroyed arena. "And it looks like I was right when I said they screwed themselves over. Ah Sirzechs you stupid bastard." He said while shaking his head. He then looked back over to Michael. "Tell you what Mike. Since we're all here for the same reason, how about we have ourselves a little 'ceasefire' for the time being. We've been doing all we can to try to recover from the war, and I think this would be a great opportunity for us to put aside our differences and successfully work together to try to strengthen old ties. We _did_ use to be on the same side after all." Said Azazel as he reverted back to his lazy mile while waiting for the Holy Leader's response.

The three Archangels raised their eyebrows in complete surprise, not at all expecting _Azazel _of all people to propose an alliance. They had always known the governor to be lazy and non-caring even before he had fallen, and also being serious only in the most dire of situations. He was also known to always prefer to work alone even amongst his own angels. So for him to be the one offering a temporary alliance was certainly a shock for them.

"So what's it going to be Mike?" asked Azazel as he waited for the angelic leader's response.

"Well, we have been meaning to find a way to end hostilities between our factions for a while now." He said in a thoughtful manner as he mulled over the governor's request. A minute later, he was able to reach a conclusion. "Very well, Azazel. We will agree to your ceasefire for the time being."

However, Michael's agreement only seemed to shock Raphael even further. "But Michael-"

"I have given my answer, Raphael." Michael interrupted softly with his hand raised. "Azazel is correct. The three factions have spilt each other's blood for far too long. If we ever hope to gain true peace, then this alliance will only be our first step forward in the right direction."

Raphael still didn't like it but he kept his mouth shut and reluctantly nodded in agreement. "As you wish my friend."

"Wonderful" said Azazel as he flew towards the Archangels, the warriors on both sides already lowering their weapons." Now then, shall we see what sort of mischief Sirzechs has gotten himself and the other Devils into this time?"

"Yes we shall. Gabriel." Michael turned his attention towards his sister. "While Azazel, Raphael, and I discuss what happened here with Sirzechs, I want you and our other angels to provide any support you can. Try to help any survivors you can find. And if any of the Devils try to attack you, tell them that I have sent you and that we are here to provide assistance."

"I will do so at once, Michael." She said while bowing.

"Kalawarner, Raynare, Dohnaseek, Mittelt." Said Azazel, getting his subordinates' attention. "Why don't you four help our good friend Gabby here while me, Mike, and Ralphy go pay a visit to Sirzechs?

"Yes, Lord Azazel." The four angels said in unison while also bowing.

"Excellent." He said before turning towards the Archangels. "Well then, shall we be off?"

With that the two Archangels gave nods in agreement before transmitting away with the governor fallen angel towards the Gremory household. The angels of from both sides also transmitted away in order to find any survivors within the destroyed area, leaving Gabriel, Kalawarner, Rayner, Dohnaseek, and Mittelt by themselves, though as soon as Gabriel's eyes landed on the four fallen angels, she widened her eyes in shock.

"Kala-chan? Ray-chan? Dohna-kun? Mittelt-chan?" she asked in recognition as the four other angels blushed and looked away in embarrassment at their old given nicknames

"Gabriel-sensei." They said while nodding to the Archangel as well as their former teacher though still looking away. Not a second later, the four fallen angels gasped in surprise when they were suddenly caught in a large bear hug. They looked over and saw Gabriel with a large happy smile on her beautiful face while somehow tightly hugging all four of the angels at once. Dohnaseek's blush only increased and blood almost shot out of his nose when he saw that both his arms in between Gabriel's and Kalawarner's large breasts.

"Ohhh it's so good to see you all again! You have no idea how much I missed you four!" The busty Archangel cooed while continuing to hug the fallen angels. Even though Dohnaseek could swore he was back in Heaven, he along with the other fallen angels were starting to become blue in the face after the tight hold from Gabriel's hug intensified due to her enhanced angelic strength, cutting off their need for oxygen.

"G-Gabriel-sensei." Mittelt choked out as she tried to breathe. "C-can't b-breathe!"

Gabriel giggled as she released the angels from her death grip, giving them some much needed oxygen. "Sorry Mittelt-chan. It's just been so long since I've seen my favorite students." She then took the time to simply examining each of her former pupils while smiling warmly. "Look at you four. You've all grown up so much since the last time I saw you." She turned her attention towards Raynare and Kalawarner. "Ray-chan, Kala-chan, you've both grown into such beautiful women. I can't imagine how many men have _fallen_ for you." She said while giggling at her own pun, which only cause Raynare and Kalawarner to blush and look away again in embarrassment. She then turned towards Dohnaseek. "And Dohna-kun, you've certainly grown into a handsome you man yourself." Dohnaseek's face turned a deep red before also quickly looking away. Finally, she set her sights on Mittelt. "And Mittelt-chan, even after all these years you're still the cute little girl I remember scolding whenever you got into trouble. You always were such a little rebel." She said while smiling her warm, motherly smile to the little angel, who also blushed in embarrassment and looked away, though she did have a small smile on her lips.

"As good as it is to see you again sensei, I'm afraid now isn't the time to reminisce about the past." Said Kalawarner after regaining her composure and looking back at her former teacher with a serious look on her face with Gabriel soon mirroring the same expression.

"You're right Kala-chan. We need to find the source of that mysterious energy before-"

"Hey guys, over here!"

The angel quartet looked over and saw Mittelt kneeling besides three people who looked to be unconscious. Gabriel wasted no time and quickly rushed over with Kalawarner, Raynare, and Dohnaseek following close behind. Upon closer inspection, the angels were able to see that they were three humans, two male and the other female. The older two had the same shade of brown hair yet the younger boy had a slightly darker shade which made it look almost black, though Gabriel could still easily deduce that they were all related. All of their clothes were also torn to shreds except the younger boy was missing his entire shirt, showing off his pale yet muscly upper body which made Kalawarner, Raynare, Mittelt and even Gabriel to blush a bit though the later angel quickly shook her head of the thoughts before focusing back on the family. The strangest thing however, was that none of them had a single injury on any of their bodies. The tears in their clothes looked as if they were scratched yet there weren't any sort of scratches to be seen on their skin. Not even a single small cut.

"What happened to them?" asked Raynare as she continued observing the humans.

"Judging from their clothes it looks as if they were attacked, yet I can't seem to find any sort of injury on either of their bodies. What a strange thing indeed." Said Gabriel in fascination as she looked over the bodies. A minute later she held both of her hands above the humans until a bright yellow light suddenly erupted from her palms. She then lowered her hands just above the older male's body while the light was still activated, as if she was scanning him. "I can't seem to find any internal damage either. It's as if they had already been healed. I wonder if the Devils had anything to do with this." She said as she continued to scan their bodies, this time moving on to the human women with the long hair.

"Unlikely. Unlike Holy magic, Unholy magic takes a required amount of time and concentration in order to fully manifest and work to its full effect, and even then at least a little bit of scarring is left over." Said Dohnaseek with his arms crossed and a frown while observing his former sensei, who giggled and glanced at him with a smile.

"Glad to see that you haven't forgotten any of my lessons, Dohna-kun." She said before looking back at the unconscious humans, not at all noticing the blush that made its way up to her student's face. After making sure that the human woman was free of injuries, she then moved her hands over the body of the young boy. However as soon as her hands made contact the light in her hands disappeared and a dark overwhelming sensation flooded her entire body that caused her to lose her breath and double over in pain. Right on top of the unconscious boy.

"Sensei!" the four fallen angels screamed as they quickly rushed over and helped Gabriel to her feet. Dohnaseek and Raynare wrapped each of her arms around their necks while Mittelt pushed her up from her back and Kalawarner wrapped her arms around Gabriel's waist. After they were able to get her standing, they waited until she regained her breath before speaking.

"Sensei what happened? How come you suddenly collapsed like that?" asked Raynare in concern as she rubbed her teacher's back to try to calm her down.

"I-I don't know Ray-chan." Gabriel stuttered as she regained her breathe, though her heart was beating about a mile per minute in her chest, and not in a good way. "I-I was going to see if the boy had sustained any injuries, b-but as soon as I tried to search him, I was suddenly hit by this intense feeling. It was so dark and empty and full of pain. It wasn't malicious or evil but it wasn't good either. If I could put it into one word it would just be _empty_." This caused her students to lift their eyebrows in surprise and confusion, but then the next thing she said was an even greater surprise. "I-I think that this boy is the reason for the large energy outbursts that we've been feeling all these years as well as the large power outburst that we recently felt."

This caused her students to widen their eyes in shock while they looked at the unconscious human boy with disbelieving looks. They knew all along that _something_ had to be unleashing all of that dark energy yet they never would have thought it would be a kid. A _human_ kid of all things.

"This boy? This _child_ is responsible for the enormous power outbursts?" asked Kalawarner in a disbelieving tone. Though she did have to admit that he was cute, especially with that dark hair and those paled muscles. Just the thought of them made her body shake and face heat up in lust.

"Well one thing is for sure, we need to get this boy and his parents to safety immediately. They aren't safe here." Said Gabriel which brought Kalawarner out of her heated stupor and nodded in agreement along with her three other companions.

"We can take him to Lord Azazel's warehouse." Said Mittelt for the first time. "It's completely hidden so none of the Devils will know where it is."

"And we can take his parents back to their home." Said Raynare. "With them still unconscious, we can safely alter their memories so that they won't remember any of this."

"That's a good idea, Ray-chan." Gabriel said nodding and smiling in approval before turning towards her other students. "Alright everyone, let's get these people to safety." The fallen angels nodded in agreement before helping their former sensei.

* * *

_**House of Gremory, thirty minutes earlier**_

Immediately after the three angels transmitted into the large mansion, they were surrounded by numerous Devil Royal Guards who had black pitch fork-like spears pointed right at them.

"Woah woah easy there everybody, we just came here to talk with out good ol' buddy Sirzechs is all." Said Azazel while lazily holding his arms in the air in mock surrender. Raphael unconsciously put his hand on the hilt of his Holy Sword while Michael tensed his body and prepared to conjure his Light Spears if need be.

"Azazel, Michael, Raphael, what a surprise for three angelic leaders to suddenly show up unannounced. And at one of the worst possible times no less." The Royal Guards parted to make way for Lord Phenex, who was slightly hunched over and looked as though he hadn't slept in years. There were bags under his eyes and his dark-blonde hair which was usually combed back was now slightly messed up. The three angels were also able to see that his eyes were slightly red, like he had been recently crying.

Azazel simply smirked and crossed his arms. "Well if it isn't Lord Phenex. No offense but you really look like shit." This caused the guards to scowl and tighten their grip on their weapons while Michael and Raphael frowned and shook their heads. "But enough about that, tell me, how's the family business treatin' ya? Are the wife and kids doing well?"

The guards tensed and tighten the hold on their weapons further while Lord Phenex's eyes drooped and lowered his head. Azazel immediately realized that he asked something he shouldn't have.

"The family business is doing just fine." The Phenex head grumbled as he looked back at the three angels with anger now in his eyes. "But as for my family, they are anything but at the moment."

This caused Azazel's smirk to drop and instead turned to a frown. "May I ask what has happened to make you so depressed?"

The Phenex Head stayed quiet for a moment before looking back at the angels, his red angered eyes not wavering for a second as he spoke. "My second eldest son was murdered not more than an hour ago."

The three angels widened their eyes at the sudden harsh news as this was not at all as they were expecting. To hear that the son of one of the most prestigious Devil clans in the entire Underworld was truly a shocking thing to hear.

"What has caused this to happen?" asked Michael in curiosity.

"Perhaps it will be better if you hear it from Sirzechs himself." Lord Phenex said before turning around to leave, already dismissing the guards to return to their posts. "Though I must inform you that he is not in the best condition at the moment." He told the angels over his shoulder before continuing to walk. The angels sent each other a confused look before following the clan head.

* * *

_**Gremory Clan Infirmary**_

"What in the _hell_ happened to you, Sirzechs!?" asked Azazel in exasperation as he, Michael, and Raphael were openly gaping at the Devil leader.

The once proud Lucifer King was now laying in a hospital bed with a look of absolute depression on his face. His eyes had a downcast look and had even more bags under them then Lord Phenex had. His arms were reduced to half their size and were completely wrapped in bandages but the three angels could still see a little blood leaking through the white fabric. Sitting on his bed was his sister Rias and his wife Grayfia along with Rias' entire peerage, who were silently standing at the end of the bed. Next to them was Rias' best friend Sona Shitri along with her Queen Tsubaki who were also silent as well. Standing beside Sirzechs was his father, Lord Gremory along with his mother, Venelana. Lord Gremory had a hand on his son's shoulder while sadly looking down at the floor while Venelana had tears streaking down her face. Rias also had tears of her own leaking out her eyes while she was gently being held by Grayfia, who had a greatly saddened expression on her face. The other Devils in the room also wore expressions of great sadness but no one in the entire room dared to make a single sound.

All in all, it looked as though the Devil King was dead right then and there.

"I…I've made a terrible mistake, Azazel." Said Sirzechs in chocked out mumble though the others were clearly able to hear him.

"What are you talking about?" Azazel asked as he looked around the room in confusion.

"Azazel." Michael spoke from behind. "I really don't think that now is the best time to-"

"Riser Phenex, as well as numerous High Class Devils are now dead because of me." This caused Michael to stop and look at the Devil King who was still looking down on his bed not even bothering to look in the angels' direction.

"What happened, Sirzechs?" Azazel asked once again. This time a bit more sternly with his eyes narrowed.

Sirzechs stayed quiet for a few moments, till not looking in his direction. But suddenly there was a twitch in his neck and his eyes were now looking into Azazel's own. His gaze filled with nothing except sorrow, pain, regret, and a little bit of fear.

"I've awakened a demon."

Azazel in response simply kept his stern gaze on Sirzechs while trying to process what he had just been told. It had been a few moments before a questioning eyebrow was raised on his head. "That's a little…_ironic_ coming from you, Sirzechs."

"Now is not the time for jokes, Azazel." Raphael hissed over his shoulder as he sent the governor a scowl. Said governor completely ignored the Archangel's remark and instead grabbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head in irritation.

"Okay, you know what? Let's start from the _very _beginning so we can all fully get a grasp on just what the hell happened here. That should make things a bit more easier wouldn't you think, Sirzechs?"

The Devil King only made a single silent nod in response before his straightened himself out in his bed and took a deep breath.

"Well…it all started after I first felt the outburst of energy about seventeen years ago…"

* * *

_**Azazel's Warehouse, unknown location**_

When he gained consciousness, the first thing Issei had felt was that his head was about to explode.

Pain and agony surged through his head like the blood flowing through his veins. His head was pounding so hard it was as if Thor himself was beating him to death with his hammer. Either he had gotten so drunk that it was a really bad hangover or that some mentally insane doctor had replaced his entire brain with a pile of burning coals. His was so dizzy that it felt like he had just gotten off a lifetime carnival ride and he felt as though he would literally puke up all of his organs in a single second. He tried to move, yet his entire body felt like it was on fire and his bones were made of glass, like the slightest movements would completely cripple him for life.

So for the time being, he simply laid down with his eyes closed and waited until the pain in his body _hopefully_ simmered down. Thankfully due to his intense healing bodily healing abilities, the pain slowly started to lessen as each minute passed by. After what felt like an eternity the pain suddenly ceased and the beating and the swirling in his head came to a halting stop.

He didn't think he ever felt as good as he did now.

So without further adieu, he let out a loud yawn before opening his eyes and made his way to get up. Only he halted in his movements when he suddenly noticed that the room he was in was fairly dark if not for the one lamp that was by his side. The walls were all made of some sort of dark stone and it was completely bare except for the bed he was lying in. It was also really quiet, something that unnerved him quite a bit. He also noticed that his shirt was gone as well as his shoes and socks which left him in nothing except for his school pants. Confused and on guard, he sat up and swung his legs onto the floor and was about to search for his clothes until the only door in the entire room suddenly opened, causing him to quickly bring up his arms and form a battle position, ready to kill whoever it was that was entering.

Except the person who came into his room made Issei widen his eyes while dropping his fists and dropping his mouth open in shock along with a blush that overcame his face.

Standing there in the doorway was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. Her pale skin seemed to light up the entire room while her raven black her flowed freely down her back, something that Issei could barely see due to the already dark walls. Her eyes also had a raven color to them while her golden necklace hung lazily between the crevice of her breasts. Issei's blush only seemed to increase as he noticed that her chest was the largest he had ever seen on a women, and the fact that her outfit did absolutely nothing to cover it, giving him a full view of her large cleavage made him want to pass out due to all the blood in his body rushing to his head. Speaking of her outfit, she was wearing a dark collared shirt that look to be about half her size due to it hugging her body tightly and showing off ever curve she could possibly have. She was also wearing a short mini skirt that didn't even go halfway down, giving him another full view of her large thick and pale thighs as well as her long shapely legs complete with a set of black high heels.

To Issei it said _'Fuck all those models, this woman's a goddess!'_

It took the woman a full minute to comprehend what she was seeing before her eyes set themselves on the young man's chest, which made her face heat up like a solar flare. Pale yet fully grown muscles that covered each of the boy's arms, chest, and abdomen. The fact that she could make out a six-pack on his stomach made her entire body quiver in desire.

But before she could continue to lustfully gaze at the newcomer she soon noticed that he was also staring at her with a blush equal to hers on his own face.

"O-Oh!" she said in surprise as she quickly averted her eyes while still blushing. "Y-You're awake. T-That's good."

The woman's deep yet sultry voice only seemed to make Issei's heart pound like a drum as he too quickly averted his own eyes, the blush also still remaining on his face. "Y-Yeah, umm…" he said while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with his shaking hand. "D-Do you mind telling me exactly w-where I am, and maybe who you are as well?"

His tone of his voice was light and soft, something that sent shivers up the woman's body as she tried to compose herself. Taking a deep breath, she crossed her arms over her chest before setting her eyes back on the human boy, doing her absolute best not to not look at his chest again. "You are currently in the hidden base of my Lord, Azazel. You were unconscious when we found you so we brought you back here until you woke up. As for who I am, you may call me Kalawarner."

_Kalawarner? Azazel? Those are some weird names_ Issei thought as he tried to make sense of what she said. But before he could ask, a sudden though came to his mind that made him widen his eyes. "My parents! Where are they?! Are they alright?!" he desperately.

"Ah! It seems that our guest is finally awake!" said an enthusiastic male voice. Kalawarner turned to look behind her before suddenly moving out of the way, making room for Issei to see a smiling man with shortly cropped black hair with blonde highlights wearing a long read trench coat with black pants and shoes. His hands were in the coat pockets and he was giving Issei a lazily smile.

"Hello there, young man. It is great to know that you have finally awoken." He said while giving him a wave of his arm. Issei wasn't buying it for a second as he narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists.

"Who are you?" he asked in a suspicious and slightly guarded tone, which only prompted the man's smile to widen.

"Relax kid, no one here's going to bite. And you can call me Azazel. Nice to meet ya." He said before extending his hand. Issei looked hesitant at first but a moment later he decided to slowly reach out and give the man a small firm shake before retracting his hand.

"Now I know you got questions. And lucky for you I got the answers. But before that, let's say we get you some new clothes and a nice hot meal before we start talking. And before you start asking, yes you're parents are fine and have been returned safely to your house without any injuries whatsoever. We also took the liberty of altering their memories so that they won't remember any of what's happened." Before Issei could, Azazel quickly interjected. "No, we didn't erase their memories, just made it so they'll think it was all a bad dream. I can assure you whole heartedly that we haven't done anything to hurt them in any way. And if you still don't believe me you can go see for yourself when we're done discussing the situation at hand."

Issei still didn't fully believe him but since they could have tried to kill to kill him at any time (not like they actually _could_), he decided to give them the benefit of a doubt. "Fine." He said before looking at him with his narrowed dark green eyes. "But if I find out that you're lying, I'll gut you right where you stand."

"Duly noted." Azazel chuckled without a hint of fear before turning around and leaving the room. "Well then, Issei Hyoudou, shall we get a move on?" he said over his shoulder before continuing to walk.

Issei didn't know how he knew his name but decided to save it and ask him later. He took one last moment to stretch his limbs before he too started to leave the room. Just before he reached the door, he and Kalawarner shared one last glance at each other before both quickly looked away and blushed.

Kalawarner stood rooted in her place with her arms still crossed and the blush still on her face as Issei disappeared behind the wall. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest and her legs were threatening to collapse under her as the memory of the human boy stretching his well-defined chest came into her mind, causing a tingling sensation to spread all throughout her body. She didn't know why she was feeling like this but she for sure knew that it was because of that human boy

_So Issei Hyoudou is his name_ she thought as a slight smile came to her lips, her blush not once wavering from her face. "Things are going to be a lot more interesting from now on." She quietly said to herself as she quickly left the room to try to catch up to Issei, though not at all knowing why.

* * *

**Authors Note: Here's the latest chapter everybody! I hope you liked it! And before you ask, yes in this story I made it so that Raynare, Mittelt, Kalawarner, and Dohnaseek were Gabriel's former students before they fell, though I'll be sure to explain why each of them fell later on in the story. It just seemed like a good idea to me at the time because I wanted them to have a good background story since I don't really know about their history. **

**And I've finally added the first bit of the relationship between Issei and Kalawarner, as I'm sure you've all been eagerly awaiting that. **

**I also wanted to let you guys know that I'm going to continue on with my other story since I haven't updated that in a while either. But anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

_**( ) = Miraak telepathic speech**_

_**[ ] = Alex telepathic speech **_

_**{ } = Ddraig normal/telepathic speech**_

**Chapter Ten: Welcome to the Supernatural **

Issei remained quiet as the woman known as Kalawarner lead him through an empty hallway, though he was sure to distance himself by a few feet just for good measure. As strikingly beautiful as this woman was he knew she wasn't human. And as such he kept himself ready while watching the back of her head with a narrowed gaze. If she so much as twitched in a way he didn't like he would slice her in half without a moment's notice. Part of him almost wished she would try something just so he could vent out some of his pent up agitation, but then again, he also had no idea where the hell he was and judging by the number of nearby signatures he could detect, this place was more heavily guarded than it let on. And the fact that that one guy he met earlier had a power level that was about ten times stronger than the rest of the people here made him a little nervous.

_What was his name again? Azazel?_

"You know, you don't have to be so tense." Issei's eyes suddenly went back to Kalawarner, who was glancing at him from over her shoulder. "After seeing what you did a few days ago, almost everyone here is too scared to go near you."

Issei kept his eyes narrowed on her while shoving his hands into his pockets. "While I'd like to believe that, you'll have to forgive me when I say I don't trust you. I've been through a lot of shit recently and I'm not really in the mood to be fucked with right now."

Kalawarner narrowed her own eyes a bit before she faced forward. "No need to get all pissy with me Mr. Sourpuss. Just thought I'd let you know that we're not like the ones you slaughtered earlier."

_I'll believe it when I see it_ he thought as he continued to walk alongside the dark haired woman.

The duo soon came up to a set of double doors that Kalawarner pushed open a second later with Issei following close behind. They were now in a large room with dim lighting along with a large wooden table surrounded by at least ten chairs. Issei was immediately able to locate the dark clothed figure of Azazel sitting at the head of the table with his arms crossed along with three other people he didn't know that were sitting on his left side. The first person, who was sitting the farthest away from Azazel, was a tall middle-aged man in a dark trench coat and black fedora along with having long black sideburns and small goatee. The other two people, however, made Issei rub his eyes and do a double take to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. The second person sitting next to the goateed man was a very attractive woman with long black hair that reached down to her back and dark violet eyes. Her outfit though, consisted of an all-leather BDSM suit that left about 95% of her body completely exposed. Most of the straps she wore barely did anything to cover up her more sensitive spots, especially around her large shapely chest. She also wore gloves that went all the way up to her shoulders with small chains dangling from the sides along with knee-high leather boots. The last person he saw was what surprised him the most even from the woman before. It was kid of all people who looked no older than fifteen. She had bright blonde hair that was tied up into two short ponytails on the sides of her head by a large black bow. Her outfit was a Gothic Lolita attire, which consisted of a black Lolita dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front, white thigh-high socks, and black shoes.

Just as soon as he entered, Issei suddenly found three new pairs of eyes on him. Each of them withholding their own expressions. The man with the hat with his eyebrow raised gave him a mixed look that was between suspicion and curiosity, the woman in the middle stared at him with caution and a little bit of fear, and the young girl to her right stared at him as if he were some sort of alien, eyes wide with nothing but curiosity and intrigue. Azazel, however, simply kept his arms crossed and gave him a bored side glance.

"Good to see you didn't get lost," he said before motioning to the other chair on his right. "Please take a seat, Issei. We have a lot to discuss."

Issei contemplated whether or not to do so until he saw Kalawarner making her way over to the empty seat next to the hatted-man's left where she calmly sat down and crossed her legs before gazing back at him with her calm expression. Issei had to quickly look away to avoid staring at her well-shaped legs. Shaking off the quick blush that was about to crawl onto his face, he gave into Azazel's request and calmly took the offered seat. Though he was sure to remain vigilant incase anything were to happen.

It took a few minutes for the following awkward silence to wear off before Azazel spoke. "So I assume you'd like to know where you are and exactly why you're here."

Issei took one last look around the dark room and to the other people sitting nearby before looking back at Azazel with slightly narrowed eyes.

"It would be nice," he calmly replied.

Azazel gave him an amused smirk and nodded before motioning to the other people beside him. "Before that I believe introductions are in order. You've already had the pleasure of meeting Kalawarner," he motioned over to the busty brunette sitting at the end of the table who gave him a calm nod of acknowledgement. "And the scruffy man sitting next to her is Dohnaseek," said man only scowled in response, obviously not amused with being called scruffy. "The young lady next to him in the dominatrix getup is Raynare," the woman known as Raynare blushed at the way she was addressed but gave Issei a polite nod. "And the blonde brat next to her is Mittelt." Azazel grimaced slightly as the girl delivered a hard kick to his shin under the table before she waved at Issei with a large smile on her face along with a wink, which only prompted him to raise his eyebrow.

"As for your assumptions," Azazel grunted after rubbing his leg. "You are currently in what I would call my secret '_Base-of-Operations' _so to speak. The location of said _Base of Operations _cannot be divulged, however, due to obvious reasons." He said while grinning, which caused Issei to give the man a blank stare while the others simply shook their heads and rolled their eyes. "As for your question of why you're hear, well that one is simple. We just thought it would be a good place to hide you while you recovered from you're little fight with Riser and his Devil buddies."

Issei's calm expression soon morphed into one of fury and hate at the mere mention of the Devils. The memory of the event was still fresh within his mind as he recalled what had happened. The thought of the Devils, no _dead men_ who not only wanted to harm him but his parents as well for nothing but personal amusement made him want to destroy everything around him.

"I understand that you're angry," Azazel said from beside him. His amused smile now gone from his face, replaced by a more serious look. "But there's no need for you to be any longer. As I've said before, you're in a completely secret location that not a single Devil knows about. You're safe here and among friends."

Issei shut his eyes and took a couple of deep breathes to try to vent out any of his negative emotions and murderous thoughts. He opened them back up but didn't look at Azazel or any of the other occupants in the room, almost out of shame.

"Sorry," was all he was able to say in a low voice.

Azazel's cheerful smile came back as quickly as it was gone before clamping a hand around Issei's shoulder, making him jump a little in surprise. "All is well and good my new friend. No need to be so down in the dumps. Though I can't say I blame you for getting mad at Sirzechs and the rest of his flock. That idiot always did have a way of making horrible decisions."

"Sirzechs?" Issei asked the man with a raised eyebrow.

"One of the four Devil Kings that rules over the entire Underworld." Raynare spoke up for the first time, her recent blush long gone from her angelic face. "He currently holds the title of Lucifer and is the first born son of the Gremory Clan, which is one of the most prominent and well-known families of the remaining 34 pillars. He also has a younger sister that attends the same high school you currently go to. I believe you know her as _Rias_ Gremory." she explained after distastefully mentioning the Gremory Devil's name. Issei momentarily thought that he wasn't the only one who had a strong dislike for Devils.

But in all seriousness, yes. He did in fact know of the woman that Raynare had mentioned. She was known as one the _"Two Great Ladies" _of Kuoh Academy along with Akeno Himejima and was apparently the most popular girl in the entire school that transferred from somewhere in Northern Europe. Though Issei knew that it was a complete lie. He would also see her hang around in the old school building almost every day along with Akeno, the so-called _"School Prince" _ Kiba Yuuto, and the school's mascot, Koneko Toujou. Apparently they used the school building to host all of their annual club meetings for the Occult Research Club, which was a club dedicated to studying any and all supernatural/magical phenomenon.

Oh, the irony.

Of course, Issei knew that none of them were _normal_ so to speak. In fact, he had been getting a whole mess of weird vibes from them along with some other students until Ddraig had informed him that they were Devils. From then on he had opted to just staying out of their way and hoping that they would just leave him alone. Sadly that hope had come crashing down after the school's _Prince_ had come running up to him and asked him about joining the Occult club.

He had already caught on to their little game and what they were secretly trying to do.

During his training and studying back when he was a kid, Miraak had taught him about the Three Factions of Earth and how each of their societies functioned. He had learned everything he needed to know about the Devils: what their governing system was, how they drew and manipulated destructive energy, their history, the names of all of their past kings as well as the names of all 72 pillars, and of course, how they created and maintained peerages. And honestly, the last subject was a complete joke to him. If Devils were allowed to have servants than why the hell would you base the peerage system off of chess pieces and only train them in the fighting arts of the individual piece that you give each servant? If you only trained each servant in one form of combat than you would easily be leaving them wide open to any number of attacks that could very easily cripple or outright kill them. A successful team needs to be trained in the same fighting style along with each individual having his or her own trump card.

Another thing Devils had that made Issei loathe them even more was their pride, which that bastard Riser had A LOT of in himself. Even after surviving a war that cost them not only all four of their kings but over half of their pure-blooded clans, they still believed that they were the top dogs. Issei had stop himself from laughing after Miraak had told him that. If they were as strong as they say they are then they wouldn't have had to rely on humans to regain their military power. It was all sad in Issei's opinion.

After all, it was that arrogance that got Riser killed in the first place.

He should have known that even a Phoenix can turn to ash.

"Let me guess," Issei said as he turned to Raynare. "Long red hair? Emerald green eyes?" he asked, with the later nodding in response.

"The very one."

Issei nodded back before leaning back and crossing his arms over his stomach. "I've seen her around the school from time to time. Just about every guy and girl worships the ground she walks on like she's some sort of freakin' goddess." He shrugged his shoulders in annoyance. "Honestly, I don't get what they even see in her. The way she always walks, talks and acts like a queen really pisses me off. It's like she knows she'll always get that attention no matter where she goes. Plus, she's not even that attractive. And the fact that she's a Devil, on top of being related to the bastard that allowed my parents and me to be kidnapped only makes me hate even more."

Raynare, along with the rest of the Fallen Angels in the room, stared wide eyed at Issei in silence. Their respect for the boy having gone up a whole new level after hearing him talk trash about the Lucifer King's younger sister.

"Now I have a question for all of you," Issei said, taking all of the Angels by surprise. "Just what are you? I know for a fact that none of you are human, yet you also don't have the auras of Devils. So what exactly are you?"

Azazel held his grin in place as he replied. "You're very perceptive for a kid, though you are correct. We're neither Devils nor Humans. All of us in this room, including yours truly, are Fallen Angels. And before you start making pointless judgements, no, we are nothing like the Devils. We may have fallen from God's grace but that doesn't mean we are entirely evil. In fact most of us fell due to simple things such as forbidden love, knowledge, envy, pride, and so on. We may seem like a bunch Devils but we're actually pretty cool once you get to know us!" he exclaimed without much enthusiasm, which only seemed to embarrass the other Angles further and earned him another kick in the shin from Mittelt.

"But now that we've told you about us," Azazel groaned as he rubbed his shin before once again putting on a serious face. "Maybe you can tell us about yourself. What exactly are _you_, Issei Hyoudou? You still appear to be human, yet the intense damage done to the Phenex mansion along with the dozens of dismembered Devil corpses we saw back in the Underworld say otherwise. What are you, and what exactly is your purpose here?"

The room remained silent as Issei contemplated over the answer to the Fallen Governor's question. The four angels beside Azazel waited anxiously for his response. Kalawarner, Dohnaseek, and Raynare unintentionally sat up straighter and kept their gazes on Issei while Mittelt leaned in on her elbows with her head in her hands and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Azazel still kept his cool and calm façade with his arms crossed and politely waited for Issei to respond.

Issei ignored all of the intense stares he was getting and kept his head down while still thinking over the Fallen Angels question.

'_What should I do?'_ he asked himself.

_**(You may tell them if you wish, Issei.) **_spoke Miraak for the first time, which made him jump in surprise and earning him raised eyebrows from the nearby angels. _**(They are indeed who they say they are. I have detected no lies from them the entire time. Though I must say that the less they know, the better it will be if less people know about your abilities. However the choice still remains solely on you. I will not doubt you in which ever decision you make.)**_

Issei mentally nodded in acknowledgment and sighed a little in relief before moving on. _'Alex?'_

_**[It's up to you, kid. Even if you do tell them, they'll probably just think you're completely nuts. Hell, even I'm still having trouble coming to terms with all of this. Either way it's still your call.]**_

Issei nodded once again before moving on to his last tenant. _'Ddraig?'_

The Welsh Dragon continued to remain silent, still not uttering a single sound. Issei was about to ask again before the dragon's deep voice lit throughout his mind.

_**{As I have said before, Issei, you and I are partners now. Whatever decisions you choose I will follow you until the end.} **_

For the first time in a while, a genuine smile came to Issei's lips. _'Thanks guys.'_

Issei took a deep breathe before he looked back up at the surrounding angels, who were still staring at him and waiting anxiously for his explanation.

"Alright. It all started when I was born…"

* * *

_**Hyoudou Residence**_

A man with brushed light brown hair groaned from his bed as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, opening them to reveal the same shade of light brown. With a painful cringe he slowly sat up straight while massaging his temples. His head felt as if someone had repeatedly beat it with a hammer. A few minutes after the pain simmered down, he reached over to the nearby nightstand and retrieved a pair of thin-rimmed glasses before placing them over his eyes, making sure to blink a few times to readjust his vision.

'_What the hell happened last night?'_ he thought to himself as he tried to recall the events from yesterday, only to find out that he couldn't remember for some reason. _'Damn, I can't remember anything. Did I get drunk again? But it's not even the weekend yet!'_ he mauled over all the possibilities but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't figure out a solution as to how he ended up in his bed. _'The last thing I can remember is Issei leaving for school. But after that my mind just goes blank.' _

It was with this thought that Daisuke Hyoudou continued to think over further before he heard a softer groan coming from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see the equally light yet long brown hair of his wife Kazane, who was also in the bed alongside him and appeared to just be waking up as well. What was even stranger was the fact that she and him were still fully clothed in the clothes that they wore the previous day.

"Mmm, Daisuke?" Kazane muttered as she arose from her slumber and rubbed her eyes. She then took a quick glance around the room before setting her sights back on her husband, a confused expression now adorning her face. "When did we get into our bedroom?" she asked before looking down at herself and back to her husband. "And why are we still in our clothes? Did we- Oh my…" her aging face slowly turned a deep pink before hesitantly asking. "Honey…did we-"

"No. At least I don't think we did," he quickly cut her off, his own face turning a light shade of pink before he shook his head and looked back at his wife. "Kazane, how much do you remember from yesterday?"

Kazane placed her hand on her chin and looked up to the ceiling, mimicking a thinking pose while trying to recall what had happened the previous day. After a few moments of silence she turned back to Daisuke. "I only remember Issei coming downstairs for breakfast before heading off to school. Besides that I can't seem to remember anything else."

"That's about as much as I can remember too." he sighed before looking down in frustration. Another thought suddenly popped up in his head. "Speaking of Issei, where-"

A faint clicking sound through the walls made him stopped him into silence before it was followed by a small _'thud'_ that echoed throughout the house. It seemed to be coming from downstairs.

"W-What was that?" Kazane quietly asked as she nervously gripped her husband's arm. The latter only narrowed his eyes as he heard the faint sound of footsteps from below the bedroom floor.

"It sounds like someone came through the front door." he quickly got up off of the bed before making his way towards the bedroom door and quietly creaked it open to look down the nearby hallway. Seeing that the coast was clear, the slowly opened the door before tip-toeing towards the stairs, his wife quickly following close by while she gripped the back of his shirt in fear.

The two came up to the end of the second floor hall and peeked around the corner and down the stairs to see that the front door was closed and the entrance hallway clear, though they could clearly hear the sounds of rustling coming from the kitchen. With their hearts beating at fast pace, the couple slowly descended down to the main floor before making their way to the kitchen. Once they reached their destination they were surprised to see that nothing had been stolen or broken, though that surprise soon turned to shock when the couple soon spotted the figure of a teenage boy dressed in a black t-shirt and baggy black cargo shorts. Said teenage boy was currently seated at the nearby dinner table with his head burring in his arms. The couple could faintly hear the sounds of muffled snores coming from the teen who hadn't at all taken notice to the two adults standing just a few feet away.

It took Daisuke and Kazane a few moments of shocked silence before they regained their composure and uttered out a single word.

"Issei?"

Issei Hyoudou jolted awake at the sudden call of his name before he looked up and widened his eyes at the sight of his parents, who were equally shocked as he was as the three family members stared each other down.

Daisuke and Kazane continued to gawk as they stared at the teen in front of them. While they were sure that this was undoubtedly their son, they couldn't help but notice at how _different_ he looked from when he had before. His hair was now a few shades darker than their own that it was now a deep dark brown instead of light, and his skin was noticeably paler. Not so pale that he was completely white but enough to make it look as though he hadn't gotten any sun in about a month. The most noticeable feature however, were his eyes. Instead of the usual greenish-purple color that he always had, his eyes were now a completely dark green. So green in fact that it looked like they were replaced with emeralds.

Before either of the parents could even blink they suddenly found themselves trapped in a hug by their son, with each of his arms wrapped around their necks and his chin resting on both their shoulders. The couple widened their eyes even further as they heard their sniffles coming from their son along with their shoulders becoming wet with tears.

"I-Issei?" Kazane's demeanor immediately transformed into motherly concern as she hugged her son's side while soothingly rubbing his back. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

A few minutes of quiet sobbing passed before she only received a silent shake of her son's head in response. "Nothing mom," he muffled into her shoulder as he tightened his grip around her and his father. "I'm just glad that you guys are okay. I love you both so much."

Both parents glanced at each other in confusion, not really knowing what their son meant by his last statement. However that confusion quickly disappeared as they hugged their son back with their hearts filled with love and support for their one and only child.

"We love you too, son." Daisuke whispered as he leaned into Issei's left shoulder.

"That's right Issei," Kazane said with a smile as she kissed her son's cheek and leaned into his right shoulder. "We love you with all our hearts."

No more words were spoken as the small family of three continued to hug each other. All of their hearts swelling with love, warmth, and comfort as they were brought back together safe and sound.

And within the heart of that lone teenage boy, a promise was made. A promise where he would protect all of those that were precious to him no matter the cost. Even if it cost him his own life. Never again would he ever allow anything to happen to his loved ones.

And he would damn anyone who would try to cause them harm; Devil or not.

* * *

_**Abandoned Church, one week later**_

The cool night breeze blew through Issei's hair as he walked up the dirt path through deserted forest. With his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket he sighed in content as he stared up at the stars in the dark sky, the green of his eyes shining from the light of the full moon. It was on nights light these were he would always feel the most at peace. There was just something about the night sky that just made him want to live forever under its eternal gaze.

Space had always interested him. How he wished he could sometimes leave the planet Earth and just soar amongst the stars. Even when he was a young boy, he would always sneak out while his parents were sleeping so he could lay out on the grass and just stare up into the infinite void. Each and every one of the hundreds of stars he saw every night represented a new sun that would light up hundreds upon hundreds of different worlds. He could remember a time where he and his dad would sit out in the front lawn during the night and look through a telescope while sipping on a nice mug of hot chocolate that his mom made. He would watch as his dad would point out all of the different star constellations and planets within the Solar System. He chuckled as he remembered staring in awe at the massive forms of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. He'd even managed to spot a few spirals of different Galaxies in the mix, including the famous Andromeda Galaxy.

That's what always amazed him. Within the infinite Universe were trillions of different kinds of Galaxies that each held millions upon billions of different kinds of worlds. How he wished he could leave Earth and explore each and every one of those different worlds. Who knows what one could find up there in the infinite black void known as Space?

Shaking himself from the thoughts of his wildest dreams, Issei decided to maul over more recent events. It had been exactly one week since he had returned home from Azazel's hideout and had discovered, to his immense relief, that his parents were uninjured and healthy and didn't seem to remember at all of what had transpired on that horrible day. Guess Azazel was telling the truth when he said their minds had been altered.

Another thing that transpired where the Devils at his school. Ever since he had returned he had noticed that both the Occult Research Club and Student Council were avoiding him like the plague, not that he cared. Whenever he came within twenty feet of the members from either group they would either quickly walk in the opposite direction or would either glare at him or glance at him in fear. He didn't have any trouble with the glares though, as he would just glare right back in full force while leaking a bit of killing intent which would quickly send them running. As for avoiding him; well he actually didn't have any problem with that since he didn't want to go near any of them as much as they didn't want to be near him.

One thing that was annoying though were the constant glares he would receive from the school's #1 super model, Rias Gremory. Every time he caught sight of her, whether it was in the halls, the cafeteria, or from the old school building, she would always send the most hateful glares she could muster straight at him and never stop until he was out of sight. The first couple of times weren't bad since all he did was glare right back before completely ignoring her. Though as the days progressed it became increasingly agitating for him. It seemed no matter how much he would glare back at her she just wouldn't get the damn clue. He even made the 'I'll slice your throat' motion with his thumb while glaring at her, which only resulted in her entire peerage glaring at him along with their 'Queen Bitch of the School'.

Thankfully the whole week wasn't an entire loss. Before leaving Azazel's hideout, Raynare had told him that she along with Dohnaseek, Mittelt, and Kalawarner were based in the old abandoned church in Kouh City and that he should stop by every now and then to inform them if the Devils gave him any trouble. Even though none of the Devils had bothered him at all except for the annoying-as-hell glares, he still visited the church every day after school for casual things such as playing cards or having casual conversations. Even though they were Fallen Angels the four were actually a pretty cool and laidback group once you got to know them. And every day he went he found himself liking them more and more; even enough to call them his friends.

He had also been able to connect more with each of the Angels separately and getting to know them on a more personal level. Dohnaseek had been an Angel of knowledge and battle tactics and would always strive to learn all different kinds of things about the world, the supernatural, and also different ways to outsmart the enemy during battle. Sadly the cause of his Fall was due to seeking forbidden knowledge that only Higher-Class Angels were allowed to know, one of which being the death of God. Due to this he was immediately chased out of Heaven and hunted down across the world for decades before being offered shelter from Azazel. Issei and Dohnaseek would often share a beer between each other while entertaining each other with all of the different knowledge they had learned during their lives.

Raynare, despite her vulgar outfit and the smug look she usually had, actually tuned out to be an easygoing person. She had originally been an Angel of Love, Joy, and Happiness who would answer the prayers of those who prayed to find and be loved. Ironically, she had Fallen because she had fallen in love with another Angel, which apparently isn't allowed between Angels, and also because she was a bit of a Sadist who enjoyed seeing her enemies flail in pain, especially Devils. Due to not only being rejected by her Heavenly Father but also by the one she loved, she had shut out and rejected all the feelings she had originally represented and swore to never allow anyone to hurt her again. That had all changed, however, after she joined the Grigori at Azazel's side. Even though she was still a Sadist and a little sour when it came to Love, she and Issei had still considered each other good friends. They would often converse about the best ways to killing a Devil and even described some of the most brutal ways to torture a Devil.

Mittelt had been the most rambunctious of the group. Unlike the others, she had immediately grown attached to Issei and would often make him wear some her bows and tiaras, which had been embarrassing to say the least due to the grown up Fallen Angels laughing and making fun of him. It even led Dohnaseek to calling him 'Princess' or 'Pretty Boy', which had resulted in Issei socking him in the gut. Even though the two got along pretty well, she still didn't tell him or any of the other Angels how she fell, to which Issei understood and decided to drop the topic seeing how much it made her uncomfortable. Still, Issei adored the little blonde Angel just as much as she adored him. So much in fact that she started calling him 'Onii-chan', not that he minded since he too saw her as a little sister.

But the one Angel he felt the most connected with was Kalawarner. Just as she was back in Azazel's hideout, she was always calm and polite and the two always had interesting things to talk about whenever they conversed. Whenever the other Angels were busy with their own tasks and duties, Kalawarner and Issei would always sit and talk until the sun went down, with neither of them getting bored the slightest bit, as the two actually enjoyed each other's company and the conversations they had. Issei would share and discuss the happier times of his childhood while Kalawarner would tell him her life as an Angel and what it was like. Apparently she was one of the Heavenly Angels of the most Divine Beauty where she was the most beautiful Angel to even rival the Seraph Gabriel, who is said to be the most Beautiful Woman in Heaven. Unfortunately, this was the cause of Kalawarner's Fall. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she could never reach the same level of beauty that Gabriel had and had grown extremely envious of her, despite being one of her late students during her training as an Angel. That envy had caused her to Fall from Grace and lead her to wear she is now, to which she surprised Issei by saying that she did regret becoming a Fallen Angel and that she has had a better life.

Though he was happy for her, Issei took Kalawarner completely by surprise by saying that she was beautiful just the way she is and that she shouldn't other tell her otherwise. Unable to come up with a proper response, Kalawarner had found herself blushing at his words while simply turning away while quietly muttering a simply 'Thank You'.

But even though he couldn't see it, Kalawarner had found herself genuinely smiling at his compliment while her heart swelled with an emotion completely unknown to her.

Issei let out a tied sigh as he came up to the church's aging white doors before banging on the entrance with his fist. A couple of minutes later the door opened, revealing the familiar tall and curvaceous figure of Kalawarner who was still dressed in her usual tight purple high-collar jacket along with her short skirt, revealing her pale, yet long shapely legs and extremely thick thighs. Her midnight blue hair was in the same style as it always was though it looked shinier than before. Issei also couldn't help but notice that a few more buttons on her jacket were undone more than usual, giving him an even better view of her large and luscious breasts, though he quickly looked away and fought hard to keep the rising blush off of his face.

Kalawarner didn't seem to notice his quick gaze at her chest and instead gave Issei a warm smile. "Hello Issei-kun, I'm glad that you made it. The other are waiting inside." She said before she led Issei in and directed him towards the other Angels, who were currently sitting waiting near the half-destroyed cross in the middle of the church.

"Onii-chan!" Mittelt yelled before she dashed forward and hugged Issei's legs.

Issei only chuckled and patted the blonde Angel's head. "Good to see you, Mittelt-chan. Miss me?"

"You bet!" she yelled before taking both of Issei's hands and anxiously dragging him towards the other Angels. Dohnaseek simply snickered in amusement while Raynare shook her head and rolled her eyes. Kalawarner only stood off to the side and switched back to her usual calm demeanor.

"Great to see you can join us, kid." Dohnaseek gave Issei a punch to the arm while he did the same. The two shared a short laugh before the former Angel's attitude turned serious. "Unfortunately we have a bit of a problem."

Issei's expression immediately turned serious as well as he let go of Mittelt's hands. "What's going on?"

Raynare chose this time to step in and continue. "A group a Devils have been spotted in the east part of the city. Three Mid-Class and four Low-Class. Our spies have informed us that they're carrying something valuable. Possibly a Sacred Gear. Lord Azazel has given us permission to intercept and extract the item before bringing back here for examination."

Issei's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of Devils. The black sun emblem on his left hand glowed for a brief second before both his arms rippled with black and green tendrils. A few seconds later, Issei's arms were replaced with multiple vines of black and green tendrils along with five razor-sharp foot-long claws on each hand. A look of murder that made Raynare and Kalawarner shiver in pleasure, Mittelt in slight fear, and Dohnaseek grin in satisfaction was frozen on Issei's face as he looked towards the male Angel.

"Where do we start?"

* * *

**Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry I took so long to update. Things have been getting crazy with school and I've just haven't had the much motivation to write anything for a while and for that I apologize. I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as I can but as I said before, school has been getting to me so it might take a while. Also I apologize for the lack of action in this chapter but there will definitely be some in the next. Other than that I hope you enjoy the chapter and I'll see you guys next time! **


	11. Chapter 11

_**( ) = Miraak telepathic speech**_

_**[ ] = Alex telepathic speech **_

_**{ } = Ddraig normal/telepathic speech**_

**Chapter Eleven: Sword of the Kings **

"This should be far enough." A man dressed in a black cloak with a hood shadowing his face let out a fatigued sigh of relief as he entered a nearby abandoned building. Behind him were six other figures dressed in the same cloak with hoods also keeping their faces hidden. The total of seven figures were spread out among the shadows of the ruined building they were currently hiding in. Though they were sure that they were alone, they kept clear of any nearby windows to avoid being caught in the shining rays of the moon even though it was the dead of night. Their black clothing made them practically invisible within the confines of the building though due to their enhanced eyesight they were able to see each other clearly.

"Well that was easier than I expected," another male figure said as he leaned against a nearby wall. "Almost _too_ easy. I mean, I know the Church isn't what it used to be but I didn't think they were that low tight on security."

"I still don't get why we couldn't have just used our magic to get in and get out," spoke another male in annoyance. "It would've been a lot quicker and a whole lot less of a pain in the ass."

"_Because _Voltor," said another voice in irritation. This time female. "We would have instantly been exposed due to their detection runes and not only compromised the mission, but our _entire_ race as well. We're supposed to be in a ceasefire with the Angelic Faction, which includes the Church as well, and if they find out that it was us that stole one of their most holy artifacts, there would've _literally _been hell to pay."

"Well it _better_ have been worth it." The man named Voltor sneered as he rolled up his cloak's sleeve, revealing his entire arm riddled with deep scars and third-degree burn marks. Using his other hand, he produced a red light and hovered it over the injured appendage. He gritted his teeth in pain as the arm slowly began to heal. "I damn near burned my entire arm off just by poking that thing. If it wasn't for Roxia pulling me back at the last second I might have been nothing but a pile of ash. How we even managed to get it sealed and hightailing it out of there before those Exorcists showed up is beyond me."

"Oh, it was worth it alright." Another female voice piped up. All eyes in the room turned to stare at another woman with her hood pulled down, revealing long strands of purple hair that reached all the way down to her back. Her face was twisted into an evil smug look as she set her red irises on the object next to her. It was a long metal box about five feet in length and three feet in width. Adorning the surface of the box were dozens of crimson demonic circles and runes that looked as though they were keeping the box sealed shut. Though if one were to look very closely they would have been able to see the faintest slits of light emanating from the opening crack of the container.

The woman gave the box a few taps before setting her red eyes back on her comrades. "Those Exorcists were arrogant fools if they thought they could keep this hidden. Now that it's in our possession, all we need to do is deliver it back to the Underworld so that we may take it apart piece-by-piece, rebuild it and fuse it with our own demonic energy in order to create our own unholy weapons. Once that's done the Underworld will gain a new leverage in military might so that the Devils will no longer fear against holy weapons being used against us." she along with her six other companions all chuckled in dark delight before the woman spoke once again. "Now, let's get this to the rendezvous point before we're spotted. This entire area had been rumored to hold Fallen Angel activity and we don't need-"

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOOM**_

The sound of her voice immediately fell on deaf ears as the entire building was suddenly caught in a fiery explosion. Dust, debris, fire, and ash flew everywhere within a twenty foot radius as the remained rock and metal that recently held the structure together came crumbling down with five minutes after the explosion had gone off, leaving nothing standing except for a swarming stream of fire, numerous large piles of burned stone, metal, and wood, and a large trail of black smoke.

Amongst the burning remains were one of the hooded men and women that had taken refuge inside the structures. Lying flat on her stomach was a woman with dark brown hair that was tied into a high bun. Or, it was. Now over half the hair that was on her head was completely burnt while the rest was sticking out in all different directions on top of her head. Parts of her scalp held second and third-degree burns while blood was flowing out of the numerous cuts and gashes she had on her face. Her clothes were now either completely torn or burnt away on her arms, legs, and stomach which revealed peach colored skin that was now covered in soot, ash, or riddled with cuts and burn marks.

Her hands and legs suddenly began to twitch before she regained consciousness. With ringing ears and blurred vision, she slowly and picked herself off of the pavement and stood on shaking legs. _'W-What the hell happened?' _she asked herself as she tried to regain her bearings, only for her eyes to widen in shock and horror as she surveyed the destruction all around her.

"W-What the fuck happened!?" she said in hysterics. "R-Roxia!? Candice!? Voltor!? SOMEBODY ANSWER ME DAMNIT!"

The slightest movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. Her hysteria morphed into immense relief as she saw one of her comrades, a male with dark blonde hair, crawl out of nearby pile of fallen stone. That relief immediately shifted back to horror as she saw that that one of his arms and legs had been severed from the middle up, revealing a large chunk of bloodied muscle and bone sticking out with a growing trail of blood following close behind every inch he crawled.

"D-Danose! Hold on I'm coming!" she yelled to her severely wounded comrade as she limped over to him as quickly as she could. "Just hold on a little longer Danose! I'm almost there-"

_**VWOOOOOOOOOOOP-SCHINK **_

Her throat dried up like a desert in the hot sun and all the color drained from her face as a five foot long spear made entirely of purple light suddenly impaled itself in the middle of Danose's face. The burnt woman could only stare in silent frozen horror as the blonde man ceased all movement and went limp in the pavement with his head lying on its left side with the spear still through his skull. After what felt like years the spear soon dematerialized, leaving a fountain of blood, bits of brain, and fragments of bone to come flowing out of the single wide hole within the dead man's head.

"Well, well, well. What do we have hear~" a dark yet seductive voice said from nearby. The burnt woman turned her head and sneered in disgust and fury as her eyes caught two familiar black feathered wings on the back of a woman with long black hair and violet eyes wearing an S&amp;M outfit with leather straps, arm length gloves and knee-high boots. Said woman currently standing ten feet away from the woman with her arms crossed under her ample chest and was smiling as if she won the lottery. "It seems I've found a burnt dog straight out of the grill. Though it's too bad that none of your other friends survived. I could've used more target practice."

"_You!_" the woman hissed with venom in her voice as she gritted her teeth and glared murderously at the Fallen Angel. "_You _did this!" she yelled while gesturing to the damage around them.

Raynare covered her mouth with her hands, mimicking a hurt look. "Why I have no idea what you're talking about! I mean as much as I would _love_ too, do you honestly think that I alone would be able to cause this much damage? All I ever did was end that pathetic Devil's life with a spear through his head!"

"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK ME YOU FALLEN WHORE! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THESE PESKY BURNS I'D GUT YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"

Raynare's face set itself into a scowl before she lifted her hand, forming another holy spear of light. "You know, I was going to keep you alive a little longer so I could have some fun making you squeal like a pig, but you're starting to get on my nerves so I think I'll just kill you."

However, before she could throw the spear a red bolt of demonic energy suddenly flew right past her, nearly hitting her in the head and making her jump back in surprise.

Confused by the sudden engagement, the woman looked back towards the burning building and widened her eyes as a man with dark brown hair came stumbling towards her at a surprising speed, considering the fact that his clothes and skin were burnt along with him holding a hand on a bleeding puncture wound on the side of his stomach. His other arm was glowing with a mass of demonic energy and was extended towards Raynare. With a grunt the man fired another shot at the Angel, who responded by quickly ducking out of the way before she extended her wings and took flight about twenty feet up in the air. Snarling in anger, she threw the spear towards the duo at high speeds. Just when it looked like it was about to hit its target, a large red dome suddenly materialized around the two Devils and destroyed the spear completely. Widening her eyes even further, the burnt Devil was able to spot the purple haired Devil from before the explosion, looking far better than the other two Devils did. On her back was the long metal case that contained the artifact stolen from the Church.

"M-Mantra? Voltor?" The burnt woman said in shock after seeing two of her comrades still alive. And with the artifact intact no doubt. "How the hell are you two still alive!?"

"No time for explanations, Veedra!" the man known as Voltor from earlier said as he fired another demonic energy bolt at the fly Angel. "We need to deal with this bitch and get the hell outta here, right now!"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible for any of you at the moment." The three Devils quickly spun themselves around and prepared to put themselves on the defense once again as they saw both Dohnaseek and Kalawarner lying directly above them along with Raynare, who had a shit eating grin on her face as she held a purple light spear in each of her hands. The two former Angels held amused smirks on their lips as they both charged their own spears; Kalawarner forming a bright yellow spear while Dohnaseek's was deep blue.

The Devil known as Veedra scrunched her face in anger as she glared at the flying Angels. "You think those shiny oversized toothpicks will be enough to defeat us?! You're up against two Mid-Class Devils and a High-Class! Do you honestly believe that a bunch of pathetic Angels such as yourselves can take us all on at once?!" she mocked. Hoping that she would have angered them enough to make them charge at her and her other two companions in blind anger.

But to her and the other Devils' surprise, the Angels didn't seem at all affected by her insults. Instead they only shrugged _while_ still holding their spears.

"As much as we would love to use you all as pin cushions," said Dohnaseek as he, Kalawarner, and Raynare suddenly dematerialized their light spears. "I'm afraid that we were only meant to act as a distraction."

"What the hell are you talking ab-"

The ground suddenly jerked beneath the Devils in great force before it was followed by what felt like a miniature earthquake. All around them, debris from the destroyed building shifted and crashed while any and all nearby trees that weren't damaged from the explosion began popping from their roots and out of the ground or were either broken or ripped completely in half due to the increasing shockwave in the cement. The Devils, confused and shocked from this sudden turn of events, forced themselves to deactivate their protective barrier as they tried to balance themselves out among the quake. Meanwhile, up in the air, the three Angels had taken precaution and flew away to a safe distance as they awaited for the oncoming destruction that was soon to pass over the entire area.

"You think they'll have any chance of escaping?" Kalawarner asked Raynare as they along with Dohnaseek landed themselves on a nearby hilltop and calmly, yet somewhat slightly anxiously, waited for the Devils' impending doom.

"If what Issei told us about his _special_ ability was true, probably not." Raynare replied as she giddily awaited for the Devils' deaths.

"I give them about five seconds," said Dohnaseek. "That's if they don't get killed right away."

"Make it three." Kalawarner stated as she went back to observing the destruction with her arms crossed.

As the violent tremors of the sudden earthquake began to increase, the Devils were having an extremely hard time trying to balance themselves. They had to fight just so they could stand and it was definitely taking their toll on them. Especially with Voltor, seeing as how he was still bleeding from his missing appendage. And the violent thrashing and shaking from below them only seemed to increase his blood loss as his skin was getting paler and paler by the minute.

"Guhh! I c-can't f-fucking concentrate…w-with all this damn thrashing!" yelled Mantra as nine bat-like wings suddenly sprouted from her back. "E-Everyone….GET OFF THE FUCKING GROUND!" she screeched as she flew off into the sky. Veedra quickly threw her arm under Voltor's as six bat-like wings soon sprouted from their backs as well. Both Devils were off of the ground a second later and used what little energy they had left to catch up to their superior. Once they were sure they were at a safe distance, they sighed in extreme fatigue and relief.

Although before they could get a single word in, the ground beneath them suddenly stopped shaking, causing any and all debris that was on the ground to cease in movement.

Mantra, having no idea what was happening, looked over to her two surviving companions with a confused yet extremely tired look.

"What the hell was that-"

_**BOOOOOOOOOOM**_

Mantra didn't get a single chance to finish her sentence as a massive, elongated protrusion shot out of the ground and wrapped itself around Mantra's entire body. The only thing the High-Class Devil could felt was a slimy, grotesque substance tightly locking her limbs into place while it covered her entire mouth, preventing her from screaming in pain as it continued to wrap itself tightly around her entire head. Her eyes were completely wide as tears of fear and pain started to leak from her eyelids. She could only watch as her fellow Devils stared at her in horror. Her entire body convulsed and shriveled as the massive whatever-it-was continued to squeeze her. Her bones cracked then broke, her blood vessels expanded then popped. Mantra could only sit in silenced, hellish agony as her body was compressed with intense force. She was soon crying blood instead of tears as numerous veins in her head popped like water balloons.

…And then she was pulled down into the deep dark below without so much as a whimper.

Silence reigned over the entire area as two remaining Devils continued to float within the sky. Their eyes never once left the large black hole in the cement below where their superior had been dragged down to without so much as a warning just a second ago. Both Devils were now equally pale as one another as they remained completely still, with the only beat of movement coming from their wings. Their bodies were incredibly stiff and straight, as if the slightest movement or sound would make them scream in terror. Their mouths remained agape, as if swallowing a thousand flies wouldn't have been enough to make them twitch.

Being frozen into a statue of fear was the only thing these remaining Devils could do at the moment. A few seconds went by before it took all of Voltor's willpower just to turn his head towards Veedra, who was just about as pale as he was and was still staring into the dark whole with nothing but emotions that he could hardly describe as simple fear.

"T-That was…"

"A-A tentacle…." She whispered so quietly it might as well been a trick of the wind. "It was a…Giant. F-Fucking. Tentacle. A-And it g-grabbed Mantra…a-and dragged her i-into the f-fucking ground." She never even glanced at Voltor as she said this. She was still too busy staring down into the deep, black hole.

"Veedra…"

"…in a second." Veedra said almost robotically, as if she was in some sort of trance. "She was gone…in a single second"

"Veedra, please…" Voltor begged his companion, slightly tugging on her shoulder. "We need to report this back to the Underworld. We have to tell them we failed, to tell them what happened here."

But no matter what he said, Veedra's eyes still never left the ground. "She's gone." She said. "She's gone."

Voltor finally decided he had enough. "Veedra, look at me-"

"SHE'S GONE! SHE'S FUCKING GONE!" she screeched into hysterics which nearly scared Voltor literally to death just before he was forcefully pushed away from her, causing him to grunt in pain as he held his severed arm. He looked back Veedra, who was glaring at him with a pained look while tears escaped her eyes. "SHE'S FUCKING GONE, VOLTOR! AND YOU DON'T EVEN CARE! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN EASY JOB! ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS BREAK INTO SOME STUPID FUCKING CHURCH, STEAL SOME STUPID FUCKING ARTIFACT AND CARRY IT _ALL_ _THE WAY BACK_ TO THE FUCKING UNDERWORLD JUST SO WE COULD SLAUGHTER ALL OF THOSE DAMNED ANGELS! BUT _NO_! INSTEAD, WE COME HERE, GET _BLOWN THE FUCK UP_, GET AMBUSHED BY A COUPLE OF DAMNEDABLE FALLEN, AND THEN SIT BY A WATCH AS OUR SUPERIOR GETS DEVOWERED BY A _GIANT. FUCKING. TENTACLE! _AND YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!"

Voltor felt as though he was stabbed by the harsh, venomous words Veedra was throwing at him. It was like she was blaming their failure solely on him. As if it was his fit the mission literally went to hell. And to hear her say that he didn't care at all about Mantra was even more painful. He might not have liked being told what to do but that didn't mean he despised Mantra for it. Out of all the Devils he had to serve under, she was actually one of the few he could stand to be around. And to hear Veedra say that he didn't care at all about her made him a little more than angry. But now wasn't the time to be arguing, the mission was still in jeopardy and that had to report this incident to the Underworld immediately. If they found out that the Fallen were involved in this, there was no telling what might happen.

Taking a deep breathe to calm his pain and his rising anger, Voltor set a stern gaze towards Veedra.

"Listen, Veedra! We don't have time to be throwing insults at each other! I'm telling you right now that we need to get out of here and report to the Underworld before-"

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOOM**_

_**BOOOOOOOOOOOOM**_

Both Voltor and Veedra never moved an inch as two more massive, black, and grotesque tentacles shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the two Devils. Due to being overly exhausted and fatigued during their run-in with the Fallen Angels, they didn't have enough energy to even squirm as the two titanic appendages crushed the life right out of them.

And just like their superior, both Devils didn't even get a chance to scream as they were dragged down into the dark underground blow.

Neither of them once noticed the presence of a dark haired teen dressed in a flannel long-sleeved shirt with dark jeans and black converse sneakers, who stared down into one of black holes with a look of calm indifference on his face. A glowing green symbol that resembled the outline of a sun covered in tentacles was on his left hand while his right hand held a familiar five foot-long metal case completely covered in demonic runes.

"Good riddance." he said in a cold voice before walking away in the opposite direction towards the city of Kuoh. Not once did he ever glance back at the destruction that was left behind him.

* * *

_**Abandoned Church, 10 minutes later**_

"So what do we have here, Azazel?" Issei asked the Grigori leader as he sat down on a nearby bench. As soon as he and the other Fallen Angels had dealt with the remaining Devils, they had quickly vacated the area and retreated back to the Church. Though before they had left, Mittelt had been able to find the special artifact that they were carrying and had handed it to Issei due to her being affected by the many number of demonic runes that were securely locking it within the metal box. It seemed that in addition to acting as locking mechanisms they also had a built-in defense system that that would cause harm to anything that wasn't a Devil. Though for some reason when Issei had touched it, it didn't seem to affect him at all in the slightest. Probably due to his high amount of otherworldly energy.

Speaking of energy, whatever it was that was in the box, Issei could detect a feint energy signature that was entirely different from the various demonic runes or and from his Angel allies alike. It was faint, but he could sense the slightest amount. And compared to the twisted and greedy energy he got from the Devils and the tainted and dark energy he got from the Fallen Angles, this type seemed like it was purified of any and all evil intent and filled with light. Almost like it was…Holy?

A deep chuckling brought Issei out of his thoughts as he looked over to see Azazel seemingly tinkering with the Devil runes that sheeted the entire metal box at a nearby table. "Curious are we, Issei? Though I can't say I exactly blame you. Whatever's in this case must've been pretty important if it was being guarded by seven high ranking Devils. Not to mention the dozens of demonic locking seals placed around the outside of the case. But not to worry. I've studied in all types of demonic runes and seals. These are hardly with the effort in cracking. Just give me a minute and I'll be done before you say 'I'm a genius'." Cracking a grin, he returned his attention back to the box where he continued doing whatever it was he did while Issei rolled his eyes and shook his head. _'Genius my ass'_ he said to himself.

_Click_

"Annnnd presto! Let's see what we have in this little-….Oh no."

The sudden change in the Grigori leader's demeanor immediately grabbed Issei's attention, as well the attention of the other Fallen Angels, as they all walked up behind the Governor General to see what was wrong.

"Azazel, what is it? What's wr-"

Issei's words immediately dies inside his mouth as he looked inside the case. The expressions on the nearby Fallen Angels' face all turned into a mix of shock and cold dread at what they saw.

Within the case surrounded by a mystic shine of light was a sword. It was as long as the case it was held captive in, about five feet in length. Its hilt and cross guard were a leathery, velvet black and was lined with dozens of gold trimmings. The blade itself was extended at a length of four and a half feet and was made completely out of what looked like the strongest stainless steel that Issei had ever seen on any sort or weapon. Within the middle of the thin blade, Issei could make out small gold carvings that held various depictions of different images. In the center of the depictions was an image of an old bearded man wearing a crown and robes while sitting on a large throne. Above the man was an image of a shield with a large bird in the middle that was also wearing a crown. Below the man were four saint symbols that were arranged in a diamond formation. Below those was another depiction of the same bearded man, except this time he was fully outfitted in a suit of knight armor while riding on a large stallion, a sword was in one of his hands while a shield depicting the same saint symbol was on the other. Further below was the same image of a shield that held a large bird wearing a crown.

All in all, the sword looked as though it had belonged to some sort of ancient king.

But what really caught Issei's attention was the amount of power that was radiating from the sword itself. While it wasn't nearly as strong to affect him in any way, it had definitely affected the Fallen Angels that were standing around him. Dohnaseek literally had to step away in just to breathe again due to the intense pressure the sword was pushing on him, Kalawarner and Raynare were practically frozen due to all of the sword's excess Holy energy; Issei had guessed that even Fallen Angels could be affected by Holy weapons themselves even though they used them, and poor little Mittelt looked as though she was about to faint right then and there. Even Azazel had a slight shiver in his usually calm figure. Issei took a quick moment to pick Mittelt up and lay her down on one of the nearby benches so she could calm down and rest. She croaked out a small 'Thank You' before falling asleep. Smiling, Issei gave her a small peck on the forehead before returning to Azazel's side, who was currently shaking his head and sighing in frustration.

"Damn it Sirzechs, what have you been up to?" the Governor asked himself as he stared at the ground with a serious look on his face. Not once did he pay attention to Issei as he examined the swords powerful figure.

"This is what the Devils were after? A sword?"

"Not just a sword," said Azazel as he gazed into Issei's eyes. "A Holy Sword. And one of the most powerful if I'm not mistaken."

This made Issei widen his eyes a bit. "A Holy Sword? One of the most powerful?"

The Fallen Angel Leader nodded before looking back at the Holy Weapon. "It is known as _Joyeuse._ It was the personal sword to Emperor Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire that was said to be forged in order to carry the Lance of Longinus within its hilt, while others say that it was crafted from the same materials as Roland's Durendal and Ogier's Curtana, which in fact were two other Holy Swords that were actually parts of the Holy Excalibur sword used by King Arthur Pendragon of Britain. Joyeuse was also used in the coronations of many of France's kings, from Philip III in 1270 all the way to Charles X in 1824. Rumor has it that it was split into various different parts and used as coronation swords over the centuries. Though now those rumors were obviously false since we seem to have the real deal right here in front on us." He gestured towards the sword. "Last I heard it was kept persevered in the Saint Denis Basilica in France since 1505. Though unfortunately I can't figure out for the life of me how the Devils were even able to get near it, much less steal it from right under the Church's noses. You think something like this would've been kept under heavy lock and key inside the Vatican or somewhere safely stored away behind the Gates of Heaven."

Not understanding at all about what to do at the moment, Issei simply looked back at the shining sword within the box before looking back at Azazel. "But what exactly would the Devils want with it?"

Azazel closed his eyes and shook his head, not even wanting to think about the answer. "I don't know. But what I do know for sure is that I need to get into contact with Michael and let him know that one of his belongings was stolen. In the meantime, why don't you head on home and get some rest. We can deal with this matter tomorrow after you finish school. Just make sure that you stay clear of any contact with the Devils. It is their territory after all."

With some reluctance, Issei nodded in agreement and bid farewell to the other Angels before leaving the church and making his way back home. The entire time his mind was solely focused on the sword. Why had the Devils stolen such a powerful weapon and what exactly did they plan on doing with it?

* * *

_**Dreamscape, 3 hours later**_

He couldn't remember when exactly he had fallen asleep but he knew for sure that he was dreaming. Though he couldn't at all tell where on earth he was at the moment.

He definitely knew that there was no way in hell he could be on Earth though because wherever he was looked like something out of a sick, twisted nightmare.

All around him were leaning towers that were sickly green in color and absolutely titanic in size. It looked as though each and every one of the towers he saw could literally touch the grey cloudy sky above. All around him were various other structures that ranged from the same sickly green to oily black. Large grotesque tentackly appendages of all shapes and sizes grew out of the moistened cement that he stood on as they waved their sickly and slippery wet appendages in the wind. He could faintly make out small eyeballs as well as numerous mouth filled with sharp teeth and bloated gums surrounding the waving protrusions as they moved from side to side. Occasionally every iris within every eyeball would set themselves on his lone, human appearance as he walked barefoot through the moistened sidewalk, while the tentacles that held the mouths would dip themselves in surrounding puddles of green ooze and other unknown liquids to feed themselves of whatever they so happened to find. Large black, green, and grey balls of pustules filled with rotting gunk were attached to many of the structures he walked by, and sometimes he would even see one explode, releasing an ungodly stench that he was so sure would have killed a normal human with the slightest whiff. In the distance, he could faintly hear the sounds of unknown gurgling and growls and moans from something he was pretty sure wasn't supposed to exist. Waterfalls could also be seen falling off of distant cliffs behind the tall towers; he had hoped that they were falls of water and not something else.

"_C'mlookr zmook fhfry'l refIu'."_

"_z'Rumn fro'kn yull Xul."_

"_Ttlu'pn ghu'n mu Yog-Sothoth wex xu."_

Whispers of unknown voices guided him through the seemingly endless city of nightmares, yet he was not afraid. Names he did not know yet he felt like he knew at the same time. The voices spoke in perfect rhythm and in perfect harmony yet he did not understand at all what they were saying. It was like a language that had long ago been forgotten in the ages of eons from some unknown place from far away that was born from the nightmares of reality.

"_Gehoo no si'liki yuk bo' mi wei s."_

"_f'Sylly moken no'n isPen. Koleger'a ni Shub-Niggurath, po'atel gha ni."_

"_Vieru'x fefni klop n'Azathoth, pieresc mic le'k bo." _

The voices of the unknown had brought him into one of the towers. There were no gates of guards of any kind. Only a deep, dark, unforgiving entrance. Yet without a single ounce of fear, he took his first step and set the bottom flesh of his foot into the darkness.

And he walked.

And walked.

And walked.

And walked.

And walked.

Left foot.

Right foot.

Left foot.

Right foot.

Stop.

He was soon greeted with a massive room that was lit by an endless circle of torches. The walls were littered with dead plants, fungus, and even a few of the tentacles from the outside had slithered their way in and slowly turned from left to right without a single decibel of sound.

Though what was in the middle was a different story entirely.

A deep, dark, black hole the size of a canyon lay gaping in the center of inside the tower. So black that even the void of space could look like a star. He figured that he wouldn't have been able to see past his hand or even his hand in general. It was deep and it was silent. As if it were a portal to some sort of unknown dimension that would swallow up anything that was unlucky enough to come near it.

And suddenly, as if the tower itself had come alive, the entire area began to shake and stir. It was like he was within the belly of a colossal beat that was about to digest its freshly eaten food. The tremors became more and more violent with each passing second as the tremendous force knocked him off balance and onto the cold, wet ground. It felt as though the entire planet were about to burst right then and there.

And then it stopped.

Before he could get the chance to pull himself up, a massive, dark green and grotesque hand littered with scales about the size of a truck grasped the edge of the abyss that stood several feet away from him. Not even a minute went by before another titanic limb grasped the other end of the circular abyss before they pulled themselves upwards.

And what came out of that circular abyss was something he was sure he would never forget.

A cranium the size of a building rose up like a rocket in slow motion. Following close by was the head that was drowned in a sea of green and black scales that were dripping with the perspiration of unknown liquids. On each side of the hellish head were some things he couldn't describe as either fins or miniature wings. But they flapped and thrashed at the wind like a sail. Just in the center of the massive head were hundreds upon thousands of sickly, squirming tentacles of various shapes and sizes that moved in every possible direction as if they were desperately trying to swat away a fly that was out of reach.

And above those squirming tentacles were two blazing red and yellow eyes that seemed to penetrate his very soul. And it was in that moment that he could have sworn he was staring at the incarnate of Madness itself.

It was also at this moment that the voices of the unknown joined together in a forbidden melody and spoke a single sentence.

"_Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"_

**Authors Note: Annnnnd here is chapter 11! As you can see I've finally introduced the big man of the Cthulhu Mythos himself! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll be sure to update #12 as soon as I can. Catch ya later!**


	12. Chapter 12

_**( ) = Miraak telepathic speech**_

_**[ ] = Alex telepathic speech **_

_**{ } = Ddraig normal/telepathic speech**_

**Chapter Twelve: Meet your Lord**

Issei sighed in deep concentration as he stood as rigid as a statue. He did his best to keep his breathing to a minimum in order to slow down his heart rate. If he was going to do this he was going to need absolute silence. It was just as Miraak taught him; when trying to locate the enemy silence was your best ally. Even the faintest of sounds could be the biggest of giveaways for the enemy's location. And all he needed was absolute silence…

_Silence_

_Silence_

_Silence_

_Silence _

_Inhale…_

_Exhale…_

_Inhale…_

_Exhale…_

He could feel it now…the rhythmic beating in his chest slowing down with each passing breath he took in and pushed out of his lungs.

_*Bump* *Bump*_

_*Bump* *Bump*_

_*Bump* *Bump*_

_*Bump* *Bump*_

_*Bump…*_

_Silence_

…

…

…

_taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap _

He twitched ever so slightly as the faint tapping reached his ears. Very slowly he stretched his arms and fingers towards the ground and with a small _*crack*_ he relaxed them back at his sides. One of the important lessons that Alex had drilled into his head; if you're going to kick some ass then you're going to need the sharpest reflexes, which meant your limbs had to be in top shape.

_taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap_

'_Here we go.'_ he thought as he readied himself.

_taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap _

_*SWOOSH*_

'_Now!'_

In a matter of seconds his entire right appendage instantly transformed in a swirl of black and green matter, replacing his skin with a thick black sheet of oily-green sludge attached to a layer of stainless steel. With one swift lightning-quick motion he pivoted to the right and shot his arm forward like a bullet.

_*SCHINK*_

_*SPLURCH*_

_**RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**_

He cringed as the sound waves from the inhuman screech assaulted his eardrums like a hammer upon metal. That, along with four-foot clean slice through horribly disfigured darkened flesh and the dozens of drops of black bodily fluids splashed on his face was more than enough to confirm of his kill. With a relaxed look of satisfaction, he drew his arm back and ejected the blade from its most recent victim. While taking a brief moment to wipe the dark liquid off of his face with his sleeve, he watched in with an uninterested look in his eyes as the corpse of the creature fell back and tumbled to the ground. More of the black fluid spilled out of the open gash like a fountain and drenched the surrounding area in a black puddle. Issei paid no mind as the bodily fluid came into contact with his leather shoes. He'd have plenty of time to clean them later.

_tickticktickticktickticktickticktickticktick_

_wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu_

_schlickschlickschlickschlickschlickschlick_

_tickticktickticktickticktickticktickticktick_

_wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu_

_schlickschlickschlickschlickschlickschlick_

_tickticktickticktickticktickticktickticktick_

_wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu_

_schlickschlickschlickschlickschlickschlick_

He heard the sounds, yet showed no concern.

'_Here they come,' _he thought to himself.

With a final concentrated breath, Issei turned around and was met with a sight that would've turned the strongest of stomachs inside-out. About a hundred yards in front of him was army of what could only be described as living nightmares. Creatures of absolute hideous designs and figures of various shapes and sizes were slowly closing the distance between themselves and the lone human teen. Their bodies were a swirl of horrendous blacks and greens while their skin was heavily disfigured right to the very core. Tentacles, eyeballs, jagged teeth, hair and other wild appendages littered their bodies and protruded from their horribly ugly skin. Issei could spot one creature that was about ten feet in height floating in mid-air with a set of four tentacles on its belly or back; whatever that was on the bottom of it. It had nauseatingly green skin that was covered from top to mid bottom in a sheet of unblinking eyeballs. If he thought it was ugly enough, then what happened next quickly made him rethink his judgement. One by one, each and every one of the eyeballs on the monster's body literally _split_ open down the middle like hundreds of tiny jaws. This comparison would've been on point because a few seconds later, coated in a slobbery saliva were dozens upon dozens of _human tongues_ that emerged from the slitting eyeballs, slithering, wiggling, and throbbing in place like the tentacles on beneath the monster's underbody. The mere sight of it made shivers run down Issei's spine.

It was as if Satan himself had a science experiment that went horribly wrong.

"Ugly bastard," Issei muttered under his breath. The sight was truly something to behold; not only in shock, but in fear. Any normal human would have fallen into the darkest pits of insanity by simply glancing at the creature, but Issei was no normal human. Not anymore at least. Hell, he didn't think he could even call himself a human anymore after the things he's done and could do. Not that it mattered to him in the slightest sense. If it meant protecting his precious people and ridding the world of any who would dare bring harm to them then he would gladly become anything that Azathoth tried to make him out to be.

With a crack of his neck, Issei fixed the approaching beasts with a steady glare before shifting his other arm in a swirl of black and green. Moments later his entire left hand grew six time its normal size into hellish crescent shaped steel claws replacing each of his finger along with pitch-black and glowing green veins of biomass running all the way up his arm and connecting to his shoulder. A faintly glowing tattoo in the shape of a half-colored sun surrounded by tentacles could be seen on the top of his newly developed metal hand, gently vibrating with power.

"Alright you ugly sons of bitches," Issei growled with the ferocity of a predator as he crossed his bladed limbs over his chest and glared at his incoming prey. "Come at me!" he yelled as he charged his legs full of biomass before shooting off like a rocket at the oncoming army of Hell beasts.

* * *

_**Underworld**_

"So Veedra and her team failed to retrieve the sword?"

"Not exactly, my Lord," said a man in ceremonial armor with a large sword on his back as he kneeled with his arm over his chest and his head bowed. In front of him was another man whose entire figure was obscured by shadow due to the lack of lighting. Though a hint of moonlight could be seen leaking in from a nearby window, somewhat revealing the man's elegant purple robes with gold trimmings. One could also see the sprawled out sheets of a nearby bed; indicating that the man had been awoken from a sound slumber. "They were able to infiltrate the church and steal the sword without a rousing suspicion, however, it appears that there were some…complications."

Though the man in armor couldn't see it, his response instigated the shadowed figures eyes to narrow in confusion and slight anger. The kneeling man stiffened and began to sweat as the surrounding air slightly rose up in temperature. "And what, pray tell, were these _complications_?"

The armored man took a moment to catch his breath before steadily speaking. "Our courier, Argon, the one who was assigned to retrieve the sword from Veedra and her team stated that they never made it to the rendezvous point. He waited numerous hours for their return but not a single one of them ever showed up. After reporting back to us with this news I, along with Argon and small reconnaissance team, traveled back to the human realm to see if we could try to locate Veedra or the rest; or at least any traces of where they could have disappeared from. After an hour of countless searches, we were finally able to sense faint remains of their energy signatures and immediately went to investigate, but…My Lord…what we found there was _grossly_ disturbing."

The shadowed man's anger was slowly increasing by the minute as the knight retold the events that had transpired and was almost at the point of removing the man's head right then and there. "What _happened_, Julius?" he asked in a low, powerful growl. The temperature in the room so high it nearly made the trembling knight's skin melt.

"M-My Lord, it appeared that Veedra's team had ran into some trouble along their way to Argon's meeting point. The entire surrounding area where we located their energy signatures was completely destroyed and even utterly burnt to the ground in a few places. We weren't able to get close enough due to numerous human police forces, emergency response and search and rescue vehicles already searching the area, but what we saw looked as if a small-scale war had occurred. Many buildings were destroyed, underground water pipes had been burst open in and overflowed numerous holes and craters in the ground, and even a few nearby gas tanks had exploded and burnt everything within a ten foot radius to cinders. Though mysteriously we never saw one human casualty. But…" the knight, now named Julius, hesitated with his last words before sighing in resignation. "That doesn't mean we didn't find any bodies."

The temperature in the room faded slightly, giving Julius a little air to breathe before he suddenly tensed as still as a statue as the robed man standing before him walked closer until he was only a foot away. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

"My Lord…" Julius began nervously, "the bodies we found belonged to four of Veedra's comrades. But the condition we found them in…they weren't just killed; they were _slaughtered _and outright _massacred_. With the condition we found them in, they could hardly even be recognized as corpses."

Silence followed soon after.

With a small gulp of saliva, Julius slowly raised his bowed head against his will and stared up at his master. He inwardly breathed a huge sigh of relief as he saw that his master was no longer looking at him but was instead staring intently at the outside night sky through a nearby window; though the heat in the air still didn't drop a single degree. As a few more seconds of silence passed by, Julius froze as his master walked away from him and went to stand near the window he was still staring out of. Not moving a single inch.

Finally, after what seemed like a painfully heated eternity for Julius, his master spoke in a somewhat fearfully calm tone.

"And what of the sword?"

Julius hesitated before he spoke. This was the part that was sure to lead to his awaited death. "I'm…afraid that the sword was nowhere to be found, My Lord. We searched everywhere within a ten mile radius; every building, street, park, neighborhood, nook, cranny, and stone yet we were never able to find it no matter how far we searched. It was as if it had just disappeared into thin air. We even tried searching near all of the neighboring churches in the area and we still never managed to find even a hint of its presents." Julius hesitated once again before revealing another piece of information to his master. "My Lord, there is something else you must know. When we retrieved the bodies of Veedra's fallen comrades, we were able to detect small portions of Holy energy within their wounds."

Julius was once again met with his master's intense gaze; only this time it was laced with more confusion than anger. "Holy energy? So you're saying that they were attacked by Angels?"

"To be completely honest, My Lord…not at all." This only prompted his master to scrunch his face in even more confusion before Julius decided to quickly elaborate. "While it is true that was did indeed find small traces of Holy energy within the bodies, there is simply no way that the condition they were all in could have been caused by Angels. Out of all the supernatural factions, they are the most pure. They're battle techniques and fighting styles have always been focused on disposing the enemy in the quickest, cleanest, and efficient ways as possible; whether it's a stab from a holy sword or spear or burning their enemies to ashes with holy fire. This on the other hand was far too gruesome and violent to be a death caused by an Angel."

His master gave a slight nod in acceptance for his answer but the look on his face showed the he was still far from satisfied. "So if it was not the Angels that were the cause of their deaths then perhaps it may be from the Fallen Angels? Most of their kind are known to be quite sadistic when it comes to fighting. And give their particularly strong hatred for us it wouldn't be that surprising."

"Perhaps, My Lord, but I still doubt it very much." At his master's look, he decided to elaborate once more. "It is true that the Fallen are sadistic battle freaks that tend to get overexcited when fighting but even then they usually go for the simple beheading, disembowelment, and the occasional dismemberment. But unless the Fallen have an Angel that decided to have an 'all-you-can-eat buffet' with Veedra's comrades after going completely insane or they unleashed some sort of wild beast that was able to slaughter seven Mid to High-class Devils at one then I highly doubt it was them either."

This…was honestly not what the robed man was expecting to hear at all. Veedra and her team were known to be one of the best infiltration teams in the entire Underworld. They were able to sneak in and out of any heavily guarded area without ever leaving so much as a dust print. Their last heist, which involved breaking into one of the Fallen Angels' most heavily guarded strongholds and stealing a rare artifact that was said to have been stolen straight from the almighty throne of God himself, was proof of that.

Now one his most trusted and valued knights was informing him in the dead of night that not only had Veedra and her team failed to steal one of Heaven's most powerful Holy Swords but that they had also been ruthlessly slaughtered down to the bone without a single hint of remorse was something that did a little more than chill him to the bone. And to find out that they weren't slaughtered by the Angels _or _the Fallen Angels made it even more unnerving. Could it have been a stray that was somehow able to avoid detection and powerful enough to kill seven Mid and High-class Devils? No, that couldn't be it. Julius had said that they had found traces of Holy energy within the corpses; and no Devil, no matter how powerful, is ever able to withstand the presence of anything Holy for more than a few seconds less they burn out of existence. So how in the _hell_ had they died? Another supernatural entity maybe? Or an unprovoked attack from another mythology?

Or something else entirely?

He was cut out of his thoughts when his knight began speaking again. "My Lord, there is one last thing I should tell you. Apart from the Holy energy we found in the bodies, we also found remnants of another energy signature; though it was almost entirely laced within the Holy energy."

"What was it, Julius?" the master asked in his calm tone as he stared at his kneeling knight once more.

"I honestly do not know, My Lord. The energy was completely foreign to me. I have sensed many different types of energy in all the centuries I have lived. But none of them compared to what I felt at that moment. It felt completely otherworldly; as if it wasn't even from this world or any other. It was dark, empty, silent, and abysmal. Like every empty emotion ever created was combined into one singular anomaly. It was also everywhere and nowhere at once; as if no laws of physics applied to it whatsoever. But what truly disturbed me the most was that it had a feint sense of…_madness _to it. Like it was whispering right in the back of my ear. It was probably only my imagination but I could have sworn I also heard _whispering_ somewhere deep within the energy. It was something I have never experienced in my entire life, My Lord. And I honestly hope I never get a second chance to do so again."

The master's mouth, which was still hidden among the shadows, dropped a full inch in shock as any and all heat that was scattered around the room earlier was now completely gone, allowing Julius to finally have a moments rest and a fresh breath of fresh air, though the master never paid him any mind. He was too busy contemplating a _very_ troubling thought in his mind.

'_Could it be __**him**__?' _he thought to himself. It could have been a rare coincidence, but then again _**he**_ was the only thing that came close to what his knight had just described. _**He **_was the only one who had that type of otherworldly aura and _**he**_ had been the only one who had been able to kill over _twenty _High-class Devils at once in a fit of insane anger and rage. Who's to say that it wasn't _**him**_responsible for Veedra and her teammates' deaths?

Oh, no

_No, No, No_

_It __**had**__ to have been some sort of coincidence. It just had to be. There was no way it could have been __**him**__. It could not. It should not. It could not. It could not! _

_But somehow he knew deep down that it was likely to be __**him**__, no matter how much he didn't want it to be. _

_And he knew that the Devils were not the only ones to discover his existence._

_And he knew that the Devils were not the only ones desire his allegiance. _

_To desire his power. _

_There were others. _

_Such as the Angels; both Heavenly and Fallen. _

Veedra and her rag team of thieves were not only known throughout the Underworld, but throughout all of the Fallen territories and Heaven as well. Due to their well-known reputation of getting into any facility, no matter how well it was guarded, and disappearing at the drop of a hat, both factions had opted to double their security on any and all important locations that held their greatest secrets and treasures. Though no matter how many guards or weapons both sides had, the unholy band of thieves; dubbed as the "_Invisible Hand of Mammon"_, would always disappear into thin air with whatever they were assigned to steal. Both Factions were only able to deduce the thieves as Devils through tiny particles of demonic energy they left behind in the air. Though the Three Factions were now in a state of ceasefire, the Angels from the other two factions were never able pin the blame on the Devil faction for two reasons: One being that besides the tiny particles of demonic energy, there was never any other useable evidence to prove that the thieves had any connections to the majority of the Devil Pillars that had agreed to the ceasefire, thus no action could be taken. And because of this, along with the public denouncement from all four Devil Kings that they were in no way connected to the thieves' actions, they were all listed as a SSS-ranked criminal faction and were currently being hunted by all three factions. Though until yesterday, none of the factions had ever been successful in locating the rogue group. The second reason was because even if the Angel Factions were able to pin the blame on the Devils, it would run a high possibility of starting another Great War and neither side had the resources, man power, or basic will to start another thousand year-long war that would only cause more pointless deaths.

But what many of the creatures within the Three Factions, even the most prestigious Devil clans in the entire Underworld didn't know, was that the _Invisible Hand of Mammon_ had originated during the Great War as a Covert Operations and Intelligence Gathering Unit; created by the very first Devil King Lucifer himself for the sole purpose of sneaking behind enemy lines and feeding valuable information to the Devil armies. Only the highest ranking generals knew of their existence and were immediately sentenced to death for treason if they so much as breathed a word of their existence. Sadly, like many of the Underworld's most valued dignitaries, the entire unit had been wiped out during some unfortunate mishaps after trying to relay the Underworld of the location of the Garden of Eden. Each and every member of the unit had been executed on the spot by Heaven's most powerful general and the Voice of God himself; Metatron.

Since then, the unit's entire existence as well as the names of all its members had been erased and were nothing more but ancient phantoms of the past.

Until a few centuries ago that is.

The man at the window, deciding that for the good of all of Devil kind, sacrifices had to be made and old demons had to be reawakened. If his people wanted any chance at surviving in the near future in case another war were to break out – well they were going to need all the power and leeway they could get. All it took was a couple of high-bargained deals, a few strays, _lots_ of organized "deaths", new names, and a whole lot of restricted magic given by local mages, witches, and witchcraft users after some "convincing". It was a lot of work, but he was sure the outcome would have been worth it. He took extra care to make sure that absolutely _no one_ else knew except for him and a few of his most trusted individuals. Oh it had been quite the long run, indeed. He had been able to gain some of the most powerful weapons and sacred artifacts for the Underworld's use in the last few hundreds of years in exchange for violating some of the Underworld's most sacred laws. Some might have hailed him as a hero while others scorned him as a traitor. But in the end it didn't matter. Because as long as his people survived he would damn himself to the lowest pits of Oblivion.

But now all that planning, all that scheming behind the backs of his fellow kin had come crashing down by the influence of some outside force in the appearance of a human. Like it had been in the War, every one of the _Invisible Hand_ had been slain mercilessly without their kind even _knowing_ about it. All the hard work he had done over the past centuries had come to a screeching halt because of some _**boy**_ without an unknown power. A power that had not only taken the lives of over twenty High-class Devils but also the lives of the Underworld's most elite group of fighters.

And he had also taken something from _himself_ as well.

"My Lord?" he was shaken out of his thoughts as he looked back to see his knight, still in a kneeling position yet giving him a quizzical look that held a trace a concern. "Forgive me, My Lord, but what are your orders?"

He did not answer right away as he took some time to look back out the window and up into the night sky. The stars above were as beautiful as ever. Forever frozen within their place inside a vast universe. Even though they were not real; they were still beautiful none the less.

"Was your team able to locate Veedra?"

"I'm afraid not, My Lord. We could not locate even the faintest traces of her aura no matter how hard we searched. It was like she disappeared completely out of existence."

'_Even after the War we continue to face so many problems. Each one worse than the last.' _He thought to himself. He couldn't deal with this right now. It was already too late and he could feel a migraine pounding its way into his head. With a resigned sigh, he looked back towards his faithful knight who was still awaiting his command. "Thank you for delivering this news, Julius. You may go and turn in for the rest of the night. I need some time to think. I will call you back when I need you."

"As you wish, My Lord." His night was gone in the next second via teleportation circle, leaving the man alone again with his thoughts. This was not good. If word got out that more Devils – Middle _and_ High-class had been killed, there was no telling what would happen. He could not risk it. Not with morale already low enough as it is after the attack at the Phenex household. He needed to find a solution to this fast before things start getting even more out of hand. The entire survival of the Devil race depended on it. And he would do _anything_ to protect his people.

With mind concluded he turned away from the window and went straight to his bed. Hoping that a good night's sleep would calm his growing nerves.

He advertently ignored the blood that began dripping through the bandages of his severed arms.

* * *

_**Back with Issei**_

"Close but definitely no cigar," Alex remarked with a slight nod of his head as Issei reverted his arms back to their original forms. Behind him, scattered and littered all over the ground were hundreds of decapitated and dismembered remains of the monsters that had charged him in a mass tsunami of claws, teeth, tentacles, and horribly disfigured bodies. Now they were nothing but millions of pieces of shredded flesh slowly wasting away in a lake of their own blood. The teen in front of him —Alex had noted with a bit of amusement—was currently picking pieces of stray flesh from his clothes while attempting to shake off the black blood he was also drenched in with a disgusted look on his face; which was unusual seemingly because he had just massacred over hundreds of monsters that would've made even strongest of men piss themselves in fear as if it were nothing but a common household chore. Sometimes he never understood the kid's attitude. "Your agility and speed are as top notch as always but your swings are still too wild. Leaving yourself open for even a second can put you at risk in a real fight, especially when using your blade since it takes time to swing." He shook his head. "And knock it off with the teleporting. You should only use it as a last resort when you're too deep in shit to do anything else. Sooner or later your opponent will figure out your tactics and start developing countermeasures; the element of surprise is key to winning any fight," he gave the teen a heated glare. "Not to mention that watching you pop up all over the place like a strobe light every five minutes gave me a damn headache."

His only response from the teen was an outstretched fist with only the middle finger raised.

"Cute." Alex said dryly.

"**It would be wise to heed Mr. Mercer's words of advice, Issei," **Mirrak's deep and grovel voice echoed as he suddenly appeared in between the two, nearly making Alex jump out of his skin while muttering "Fucking hate it when he does that". Though the knight of Azathoth ignored him and focused his attention on the young boy. **"While it is true that your movement is more fluid with each passing day, you are still lacking in your attacks. It is imperative that you are not too slow nor too quick when in combat. Either one could easily give your enemy the advantage over you in mere seconds. You may have been able to handle yourself against a High-Class Devil but that does not mean that you will be so lucky next time. There are still creatures out there that can kill you just as quickly as you breathe. And not all of them are from this planet alone." **

"Right," said Issei as he rid himself of the last pieces of stray flesh and finally acknowledged the other two beside him with a bored sideways glance. "Don't overuse the teleporting while also keeping my swings at a decent killing speed. I think I'll be able to get the hang of it with the next guy I kill."

The pressure around the three individuals slightly increased making Issei and Alex wince in pain. They both directed their attention at Miraak who was standing perfectly still like a statue while keeping his mask's gaze solely on Issei. Even though they couldn't see it, the two shape shifters could tell that Miraak was angry and was glaring at Issei through the eye holes of his mask.

"**I would not get so overconfident if I were you, boy," **Miraak's normally calm voice was now as hard as steel. **"Lord Azathoth gave you this power for a reason. Whether or not you decide to use it for good or evil purposes makes no difference to him or to me, for we are only here to observe how your actions will affect the future of this world. But do **_**not**_** let it all go to waste because of your arrogance, as it will only lead you to your downfall. And I will be damned to the darkest and muddiest pits of R'lyeh before I even **_**think**_** about disappointing the great Daemon Sultan because his champion turned out to be another incompetent, narcissistic fool." **

The knight's heated words seemed to have damaged Issei more than his biomass punches as he lowered his without a single rude remark or hand gesture; which came off as a bit of a surprise to Alex due to the teen's usual rebellious tendencies to fire off some witty comeback whenever he gave Issei a strongly worded talking to for screwing something up or just acting like a casual dumbass. He took a silent glance at the knight whose mask's silent piercing gaze never left the brown-haired teen's dejected form. The man – assuming he even _was_ a human being underneath that armor – must have been a real tough nut if he was able to make Issei shut up completely; that and the large surge of power he emitted that was enough to make Alex almost lose his balance. Even though he didn't look it, he was definitely a person who Alex _did not_ want to piss off. Him along with that big red dragon; wherever it was.

Silence dawned in the entire area for a few more seconds before Issei finally decided to speak.

"I'm sorry," he said in mutter before raising his head and looking back at both Alex and Miraak with a sad and agitated frown. "I didn't mean to be a show-off, but… ever since I can remember I've been on the receiving end of everyone's shit and I'm sick and tired of it. My life has been nothing but I complete train wreck ever since the…_incident_ …" he winced. "…with my teacher. I had no friends to rely on because my mind was pretty much already broken throughout elementary and middle school and I barely talked to anyone. My parents were the only people I could go to for help because I didn't trust any adults and I was bullied by my peers. I was so sick of it that I thought I wouldn't last very much longer because I hated my life so much." A small yet barely noticeable smile suddenly formed on Issei's lips. "Though that all changed when I met a girl named Irina who actually wanted to be friends with me. It was probably the first time in ten years where I actually felt happy. Finally, there was someone other than my parents who actually gave a shit about me and wanted to help me." His smile soon disappeared and his face twisted into a look of melancholy. "Even though I had Irina, I was still bullied from time to time. My luck pretty much ran out on the last year of middle school when Irina moved away to the Vatican in Italy. Her parents were pretty heavy Catholics. I was able to make a few more friends but I never really saw them again after moving to Kuoh." A tired sigh escaped his lips. "Now after transferring to a new school I find out that it's infested with Devils who were willing to kidnap and hurt my parents just to get to me." His expression then turned into one of anger as he clenched his fists at his sides. "The moral of my long and depressing story is that I'm tired of everyone – be they humans or otherwise – looking down on me and walking all over me like I'm some sort of bug. And now that I finally have the power to defend myself, I'm going to show everyone just what happens when they try to screw with me or anyone else that I care about."

_**Excellent. Yes, very excellent indeed. I would have expected nothing less from my champion. **_

All three occupants in Issei's mind jumped at the sudden sonic boom of a voice that seemed to pierce and shake the air it traveled through. It was as if the very earth beneath their feet was speaking to them upon high from some deep, dark abyss. The tone in its voice was like a tsunami that completely washed and eviscerated any and all sound within a hundred mile radius. Even the silence seemed to quake in its presence. It was a miracle that the three males were still able to stand. And yet, despite its explosive nature there was a certain calmness in its tone that seemed to make it appear as non-threatening; no matter how much of an impossibility it was even though it gave off the equivalence of a bomb going off.

However the momentary stupor wasn't enough to sway Issei as he spread his legs into a fighting stance and raised his fists to his chest; ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

"Who's there?!" he yelled out into the blackened sky of his mind as he frantically searched in every direction for the source of the monstrous voice. Alex doing the same only in a calmer manner.

_**Why I am of course. Can you not hear me? **_

The ground shook once again as the voice rippled through the sky like thunder. Though this time it seemed to be in a more subdued and calm manner. And though it still held its abyss-like tone, Issei could've sworn he detected a hint a hint of humor in it.

Gritting his teeth in agitation, Issei brought his arms closer to his chest and began to channel his biomass–

_*tap*_

–until an armored hand swiftly landed on his shoulder. Issei quickly turned his head and was surprised to see Miraak's helmet staring off into the blackness a good distance in front of them; not at all paying any attention to Issei but still kept a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Miraak, what are you doing?! We need to find whoever's—"

"**So, it would seem that you have finally appeared at last, My Lord," **the knight's ominous statement caused both Issei and Alex to stare at him in confusion. But before any of them could question him, he spoke again. **"I was beginning to wonder when you may grace us with your presence. Had I known of your arrival ahead of time I would have had the boy better prepared. I am afraid that your sudden arrival has caused these two quite a bit or surprise." **

_**It has been far too long, Miraak. I have not seen you since Nyarlathotep's reign over the Helix Star Nebula. Your century long war on the crystal glacier moon of Hul'r was truly a sight to be held. **_

"**My blade still has yet to quench its thirst for blood, even after slaying hundreds of Nyarlathotep's armies." **Miraak stated with mild amusement before shaking his head. **"Forgive the insult, My Lord but your son was a fool for thinking he could kill me with mere Grogs, Hollowers, and L'ich Titans." **

_**There is no insult to forgive. Nyarlathotep always did prefer quantity over quality. He never cared so much for the condition of the planet or its resources as much as he did for the planet itself. He conquered worlds simply for the sake of owning them. It was his way of relieving his boredom. **_

Issei and Alex shivered at the thought. An alien god that conquered worlds just so he could own them? No matter the condition? They didn't even want to think what would happen if such a being stumbled across Earth.

"**As much as I would like to reminisce about the past, My Lord," **Miraak said as he then gestured towards Issei. **"I believe that your champion wishes to greet you in person."**

_**Ah, yes. I believe it is about time we meet at last. **_

Before either Issei or Alex could speak any further, the darkness in front of them suddenly began to swirl in place as if it were a small tornado, picking up a large gust of wind that blew towards he three males, making both Issei and Alex raise their arms to shield their faces from the onslaught of air and causing Alex's hood to fly off his head. Miraak however, remained perfectly still with his hands clasped behind his back.

After a few seconds the wind slowly but steadily started to die down along with the swirling twister of darkness. With the wind gone, both Issei and Alex brought their arms down – along with Alex putting his hood back on his head – and looked ahead of them, only to be completely stunned at what they saw.

About ten feet in front of them where the black twister once was now stood a man that was about six-and-a-half feet in height with slightly pale skin and mildly long pitch-black hair that seemed to reach down to his neck, along with a light goatee that covered his lips and chin in a shade of light brown. As for his figure, he was fairly muscular with a broad chest and a tight gut along with his fit arms and legs that looked a little bit longer than normal human limbs. Though the broad chest, tight gut, and muscular legs was due to the gleaming, black metal body armor he wore on his chest, core and legs that seemed to blend in with the surrounding darkness; almost making him invisible. He also wore a large, dark green and unbuttoned trench coat over the armor which only showed off his torso and legs. His arms were currently in the same position as Miraak's: clasped together behind his back. Issei and Alex could only assume that he was at the height and size he was now because of the armor and trench coat.

However, the feature that sent shivers up both Issei and Alex's spines was his eyes. Or rather, all _eight_ of them. Along with the eyes that were in his sockets were two sets of _three additional_ eyes that were placed on each side of his head, right where his cheeks would be. Not only did he have eight eyes but they were all the same color: a dark yellow iris with a small mix of green. And each and every one of them blinked _at the same time._

Issei and Alex were so engrossed with the man's appearance that they didn't notice him come closer until he was about four feet away. But before either of them could say anything, he gave them both a polite smile before turning towards Issei.

_**So this is the appearance of my new champion. You are a bit younger than I expected, though it does not surprise me. Humans are always slow when it comes to aging. **_

The man's voice was deep, almost as deep as Miraak's; and was as calm as the tides on the surface of a beach.

"W-Who are you?" Issei hesitantly asked. Not sure of whether he should be prepared to fight or to flee. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't sense the man at all or even get a reading on his aura. It was like he didn't even exist. He almost jumped when the man gave off a faint chuckle.

_**I guess it is not surprising for you to not know who I am. I hardly look at all to what Miraak describes me to be or to what you have read in Hermaeus' library. Though unfortunately I am only able to speak to you in this human form. If you were to see me in my original form it might have caused some…unnecessary damages to your mind. As for who I am, I go by many names. Such as the Nuclear Chaos, the great Daemon Sultan, the Blind Idiot God, though I am not too fond of that one. But I am also know to all as Azathoth, the Center of Infinity. And I have come to greet you, Issei Hyoudou, as my new champion.**_

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys. Sorry about the long ass wait. Truth be told is that I've had A LOT of writer's block and have been lazy again, and for that I apologize. Plus I've been spending the summer with friends and family so I've been busy with that. But mostly it's just me being lazy. But that's just me. What can you do? Once again I'm sorry for the long wait and hopefully I won't be as lazy with the next chapter but it will definitely come out so just wait and see until it does! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

"_Outside the ordered Universe is that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubble at the center of all Infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily and inconceivably, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of the vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes." _

_-_Lovecraft, "_The Dream-Quest"_

**Chapter Thirteen: The Daemon Sultan's Intentions**

Issei could only stare at the man in front of him with a look of slightly concealed shock mixed with unease and slight fear. Though he did his best to keep a straight face as to not appear to be frightened, doing so was a little hard to do considering not only the man's semi-frightening appearance but also with the _insane_ amount of power he seemed to be radiating like a furnace despite the fact that he was simply standing across from them with a smile of a gentleman. The simple act only seemed to unnerve Issei even further as he attempted to keep himself from falling to his knees. Not only was the power he was leaking like lava out of a ruptured volcano massive, but it also felt as though it weighed the same amount as a battleship. Issei's abilities may have given him an intense amount of strength but even he had limits to what he could withstand. And right now it felt like he was trapped at the bottom of the ocean with the pressure of the water crashing down all around him.

Beside him, Alex wasn't fairing much better. In fact, he felt like he had been hit with a nuke all over again. Due to not having any enhanced abilities like Issei had, he was able to feel much more of the power's brute and excruciating force which had caused him to be sent down on his arms and knees. That, along with the fact that this man's (if he can even be _called_ that) overall atmosphere had screamed _death_, _madness_, and _insanity_. It was as though he were staring at some horrific and hellishly otherworldly version of the Grim Reaper that had dressed itself in human skin and grew three extra sets of eyes just for shits and giggles. And to be completely honest with himself, not that he'd ever admit it out loud, it scared the _absolute shit _out of him.

There were few things in the world that could make Alex Mercer, aka Zeus, truly feel fear. One of them was the thought of his sister, Dana, getting infected and turning into another one of his mutilated demonic zombies. The other was her either getting shot by those baby killers at Blackwatch who would burn down an orphanage full of children without batting an eye or being turned into another one of Gentek's Nazi-like human experiments. Sure he may have turned into a soulless bastard himself by trying to rid the world humans and replacing them with his own army of Evolved but deep down, he knew it was the only way he could keep Dana safe from harm despite what she may have thought of him.

Then he was royally fucked over by Heller and things went downhill from there.

With gritted teeth and desperately trying to ignore the pain that caused his tendrils to writhe in pain all over his body, Mercer shot a quick glance over to the mysterious masked knight on Issei's right, only for his eyes to widen under his hood in shock as he saw the knight standing with the completely calm stature that he normally was in as though he wasn't feeling a single thing.

_What the fuck? _Alex thought in pained confusion. He honestly didn't know how the knight was able to withstand this ungodly pressure. _How the hell is he not feeling any of this?_

Said knight, who was ignoring the tremendous amount of pain Alex was in and the minimal amount Issei was in, was currently staring at the other armored man in front of him with a calming silence. He knew all too well who the being was in front of him and just how easily he could slay all three of them at once without even moving a muscle. He had seen it plenty of times before when some of the Elder Deities powerful enough to vaporize entire galaxies out of existence decided to foolishly rebel against their creator in their mad lusts for power to satisfy their eternal hunger. He had still remembered a millennia ago when Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg had attempted to conquer the Eridiun Star Cluster along with H'chtelegoth and his cult of worshippers. Needless to say, the great Daemon Sultan had slayed every last one of H'chtelegoth's followers and had banished both forsaken gods to the Eternal Realm of Fleeting Nightmares. To add insult to injury, as the humans would say, he had also destroyed not only their own home worlds but also the home worlds of every single sentient being that had supported their foolish crusade as to make an example of anyone who had dared to challenge the might of the Nuclear Chaos. Last Miraak had heard, there had been an incident near the Black Flower Nebula where another foolish god by the name of Kaalut had attempted to wipe out a cluster of planets where one of Azathoth's grandchildren, Shub-Niggurath, had just birthed more of her young saplings. The foolish larva immortal was never given the pleasure of banishment but instead was wiped out of existence entirely.

But the time for reminiscing was at an end. His Almighty Lord was finally here and words were needed to be spoken from Master to Champion.

"**I have absolutely no right to make any demands of you, My Lord, and as much as I am humbled to be within your presence, I am afraid that you are suffocating your newly appointed Champion and his friend." **Miraak spoke to the figure with his usually deep and abnormal tone behind his mask but there was also a great dedication of respect and loyalty traced within that voice that it made both Issei and Alex stare at him in surprise despite the amounts of pain that they were still in.

Then, with a sound akin to that of a tamed thunder storm, the man in front of the three individuals gave off a deep chuckle that could have shaken the very ground beneath their feet. Before either Issei or Alex could make a sound, the agonizing force that surrounded them was soon gone as fast as it had manifested. The pressure that kept Issei week at his knees and had Alex buckled down on all fours was suddenly lifted and it felt as though all the weight in the surrounding area had been reduced to that of a feather. The sudden change in atmosphere caused Alex to shoot up with his blade in one arm and a claw in the other; his expression similar to a rabid dog that was backed into a corner, murderous and tinged with fear. It was hardly something that even he, himself, was able to comprehend. Alex Mercer, former scientist of Gentek, the one responsible for the creation of the Blacklight Virus and gaining the infamous nickname, Zeus, who was also responsible for the mass slaughter and infection of over millions of people and nearly caused the destruction of an entire city. The man who also survived a nuclear explosion and tried to bring about the end of humanity by breeding his own army of Evolved. He thought that with all the events he encountered, the monsters he slaughtered, and the miles of hell he traversed that he would have been used to anything else he might have seen in the future if his life hadn't come to an early end by the hands of Sergeant James Heller. He assumed that by remaking the world in his image and becoming a god, he would have been able to handle anything or anyone that was stupid enough to challenge him.

Those thoughts and assumptions were utterly _shit-stomped_ by the introduction of whatever-the-fuck was in front of him at this very moment. To put it frankly, it scared him.

And Alex Mercer was _not_ one to get scared.

"Alright, just who, or _what_, in the _god-damn-motherfucking-shit _are you and why the _fuck_ are you able to make me feel like an infant being stepped on by a tyrannosaurus without lifting so much as a _fucking_ finger?!" Alex was so caught up in his seething rant that he didn't even bother to pay attention to the string of curses that left his mouth. Damn it. Whatever this thing was in front of him, it made him scared enough to sound like Heller. He had never swore so much in one sentence before but to be honest, he didn't give a flying damn.

After also having to recover from the change in atmosphere, Issei, bent over with his hands on his knees and taking a few deep breathes, stole a quick glance towards the near hysteric hooded virus with a calmer but also fear induced expression. The teen noticed with some apprehension that Alex looked as though he were about to charge in a blind rage, which was something Issei now wanted to avoid at all costs for two reasons. The first due to Issei having a fairly certain idea as to who the being was in front of them and the second, if his idea was correct, was that Alex's blind attempt into attacking the being would have ended in complete and utter failure.

If Issei's assumption was correct, Alex would have been an ant charging straight into a black hole. And he would need to calm him down as fast as possible if he didn't want Alex to end up dying a second time. Or worse, erased out of existence entirely.

"Alex! I know what you're about to do so don't even think about it! You have no idea who that guy in front of us is! You're only going to get yourself killed! Maybe even worse if you actually try to attack him!"

"Just what the fuck are you talking about?!" Alex redirected his seething glare towards the teen. "Why the fuck shouldn't I kill him?!"

"Use your head, dumbass! This guy brought us down on our knees just by _standing _and doing _nothing_! Just what the fuck do think is going to happen if you actually try to attack him?!"

"Well I sure as shit am not going to stand here and do nothing! And frankly, I'm sick and fucking tired of all these monsters popping out of nowhere and dressing like humans! If I wanted to be stuck in a place where all this freaky shit happens twenty four-seven I'd still be in New York!"

"Ah go cry me a fucking river, you little bitch! If you miss your precious little skyscrapers so bad then go complain to Miraak and not me! He's the one that brought you here!"

"Why you little fucking-"

_**As much as it amuses me to see two squabbling insects quarrel amongst themselves, I'm afraid that we must bring your conversation to an end.**_

And just like that, the god's words were backed with the force of a hurricane as it immediately silenced the two's incessant yelling and once again reduced them to quivering fish; though the pressure ended just as soon as it came and the alien god was once again left in an amusing three-way stare down between him, his champion, and the living virus beside him. It always amused, entertained, and filled him with pride knowing he could silence the strongest of beings in the known universe simply by uttering a single word. The fact that the mere sight of him in his true form could also drive even the strongest of minds into insanity was just a given bonus. And it was lucky for these two that he was neither using his original voice nor was he in his original form. If he was well…things tended to get _very_ messy.

He gave off a deep chuckle at the thought. The perks of being a primordial were very pleasant, indeed.

"Hey! What the fuck's so damn funny?!"

He paused in his own train of thinking as he cast an amused look towards the walking hooded virus, whose tendrils were vibrating throughout his body in anger as he gave the alien primordial a dark glare of trepidation. The sight of the so-called "Zeus", who was widely known throughout his version earth as a man-made apocalypse, being afraid of anything brought a condescending smirk to the god's face. Typical behavior like that of a small predator; they bear their fangs at any prey they find yet when cornered by an even bigger predator, they snivel and cower like the very prey they hunt.

_**Oh it's nothing of importance. I simply find your attempted act of bravado to be amusing. Even when I can both see and feel you shiver like a newborn babe fresh out of the womb. **_

That got Alex's blood to boil as he snarled in anger. Nobody insulted him unless they wanted to be eviscerated on the spot and given a one-way ticket to hell. Seeing red, he shifted his arm into his signature blade and took a menacing step forward. "You motherfucking piece of—"

"**Unless you wish to be imploded into an everlasting oblivion, Mr. Mercer, I suggest that you cease in your actions immediately." **Miraak's sudden voice was calm but held the slightest tint of warning behind it. The knight's tone sent a shiver up Issei's spine. It was as if whatever was about to happen wouldn't have affected Miraak in the slightest, which made it all the more worrying since the knight was the most stoic person Issei knew.

Knowing that shit was about to hit the fan, Issei quickly went to intervene in the near-rampant virus's warpath. "H-Hey, Alex! Don't do anything stupid! You're gonna get yourself—"

Issei didn't get the chance to utter his last word before the air suddenly shifted and surrounded Alex like a protective, vibrating cocoon. Before Issei could even start to question what was going on, a horrified expression soon made its way onto his face as Alex began to scream. The scream ended just as soon as it began as his entire form suddenly shrank and condensed into a small floating sphere made entirely out of his red and black biomass. For the first time in his life, Issei's mind tuned blank at the sheer incomprehensible moment he was just forced to witness.

The brown haired teen didn't get the chance to recover from said incomprehensible moment as the writhing sphere that was made entirely out of his friend and mentor, shrank and condensed even further before it suddenly exploded into nothingness, completely disappearing from Issei's sight with all other traces of its existence within Issei's mind vanishing along with it as well. Issei didn't know what _was_ happening or what _had_ happened.

Alex Mercer had simply shrank into a ball and exploded out of existence.

The sheer thought of it sounded absolutely fucking ridiculous it might as well be a plot device for some bad comic book. But no, this was real. And right now he _really _wished it wasn't.

However, he really didn't have time to ponder over the current events before he suddenly found himself face-to-face with the Daemon Sultan himself. His six otherworldly colored eyes glowed with a wicked gleam as the smile on his goateed face curved upward into an almost wicked Glasgow-like smile that exhibited all of the madness and insanity that he represented.

_**Now that that minor annoyance has been taken care of, what do you say we "get back to business" as the human saying goes, my new Champion?**_

* * *

The first thing Tsubasa Yura came back to from her recent trip in Hiroshima was the very tense atmosphere that was practically leaking off of her King and fellow servants like a broken faucet and the _very_ agitated atmosphere that was swarming over the Occult Research Club like a herd of locusts. Practically every Devil within Kuoh Academy was either tense, angry, depressed, or all of the above. The only one who was giving off all three was the school's number one idol, Rias Gremory, who was quickly making her way towards the newly crowned position of Kuoh's Ice Queen due to her most recent behavior change. Instead of being the warm, kind, and proud student that the rest of the school population knew and love was now becoming something akin to a person who had gone through a traumatic experience and then turning into a completely different person.

No one knows exactly what had happed to the school's most popular idol but what they did know was that it must have been something horrible if it was able to turn their crimson-haired princess into a shell of her former self. Both her classmates and teachers noticed that she barely attended any of her classes as well as not even showing up to collect any of the work she had missed. They also noticed that she spent even more time in the old Occult Research building and barely a single second within the school itself. It was as if she had become a ghost and that barely anyone could even catch a glimpse of her because of how absent she was. Those of the student body and teaching faculty who were lucky enough to see her within the main school building were only able to catch a glimpse of her in the corners of their eyes before she disappeared behind the closed doors of the student council office. Seeing that there was a connection between the two, a few students and even a few of Rias' teachers had tried voicing their concerns towards the students council to try to figure out what was going on, only to be shockingly turned away with a quick response of "Family troubles" before being sent away. Another thing that Tsubasa, as well as the rest of the students and faculty had noticed was how differently Rias' close group of friends also seemed to be acting.

The first was the school's prince, Kiba Yuuto. The once handsome and kind hearted blonde boy that always treated everyone with the upmost respect was now treating everyone as though they were a potential threat that needed to be either avoided or regarded with suspicion. Any of the girls that had normally tried to ask him out where now regarded with slight hostility and even given the cold shoulder every now and then, something that had brought fear and hurt in their eyes. Tsubasa had remembered hearing about a second year girl who had run home in tears in the middle of class because of the way Kiba had vehemently, almost violently refused the girl's invitation for lunch after class, something that had earned him an after-class detention and a room full of heated glares sent to him by both the girls, boys, and even the teacher.

Then there was the school's silent and stoic mascot, Koneko Toujou. Before the incident, the little first year was always prone to eating alone near the school's race track while always maintaining that unemotional stare and tone of voice of hers and had rarely spoken to anyone besides Rias, Akeno, and Kiba. Even Tsubasa herself had barely heard the girl mutter a full sentence whenever she was around her. Now all that was left was a girl who would barely eat a single crumb and held an intense glare that was so full of ice that it made the ninth circle of Hell seem warm in comparison. Although the students and the faculty were able to see more of her than they did with Rias, the girl still tended to keep her distance from everyone, though it wasn't because she was trying to hide. It was just the fact that everyone was too afraid to even look at her in the eye that they didn't think about approaching her. Their fear of the small girl only increased when she had blatantly beat the living shit out of the school's two most infamous perverts, Matsuda and Motohama, for trying to peek at her while she was changing in the girl's locker room. Needless to say, both ended up being sent to the hospital along with Koneko almost being expelled if it wasn't for the quick intervention of the student council.

The last person who had changed the most besides Rias was the school's second most popular student and said school princess' best friend, Akeno Himejima. Every student knew her as the basic carbon copy of Rias. Besides the different colored hair, she was known to have a striking calm and collected elegance to her that made her seem like a princess among peasants, yet had the sweet, kind, and gentle personality about her that made others think of those priestesses one would find at the local shrines. This, along with the fact that she loved to tease people made most of the underclassman that had tried to talk to her fall to their knees in utter bliss and excitement; both men and women alike. Now, however, was a women who had taken that sweet and serene air about her, stripped it down and replaced it with something sadistic. It was as if that priestess persona had fallen from her grace and was replaced with one of those dominatrix's one would see in those hardcore BDSM videos someone would buy at an old, rundown porn shop. Not only did Akeno's teasing intensify, but she also made sure to add in a little bit of torture and pain for the simple fact of personal, and even a little bit of sexual amusement. Her small fits of giggling that had once reminded the students of a mother taking in the everyday joys of her children was now something that made them think of a murderer who had just found their latest victim. It terrified the students so much that they took to running in the opposite direction whenever she was within ten feet of them.

All in all, something had happened to four of the school's most notable students that had made them into shadows of their formal selves and everyone was wondering just what the hell had exactly happened to make them become the way they were. It was obviously something major yet no one could figure anything out no matter how much they tried or how many people they had asked. The student council definitely knew something but each student who had presented their concerns were quickly turned away, leaving them with even more questions than they initially had. Whatever it was that the four students had went through, everyone hoped that they would be able to pull through so that they could go back to being their normal selves.

Tsubasa, however, wasn't that naïve into knowing that what had happened was simply going to pass with time. While she wasn't able to see for herself what exactly had occurred at the time due to a family reunion she was attending all the way in Nagasaki, she was able to get a brief and detailed explanation from her fellow Pawn, Rena. And to say she was both shocked, disturbed, and even a little skeptical would have been an understatement, but at least everything was starting to make sense as to why Rias and the others were acting the way they were.

It seemed that it all had revolved around the mysterious transfer student that had shown up a few weeks ago.

Like the rest of the Devils within Kuoh Academy, Tsubasa knew that Issei Hyoudou was no normal human by any means. One of the obvious facts was that strange, mysterious, and somewhat darkening power that seemed to radiate off of him like a reactor inside of a nuclear power plant. The other was his eyes which held an abnormal color combination of green and purple. The first time she had been able to stare into his eyes, she had felt as though there was something else entirely that was staring back at her and the other students when he had first introduced himself to her class. It was as though there was a completely different entity that was hiding behind a mask of human flesh. The fact that he also had abnormally sharp teeth that reminded Tsubasa of a shark just made the claim all the more believable. Though she had to admit that besides the dark aura and power, the strange colored eyes and the sharp teeth, he was actually kind of cute. The way he presented himself in class with the upmost of confidence without a hint of nervousness just made him all the more attractive in her eyes. She really was attracted to strong men who weren't afraid to hold their own against the odds.

She also admits that it would have been nice to get to him, to get to know the real man (if he even _was_ a man to begin with) behind that flesh mask that he wore in public, if it wasn't for the fact that her King had forbidden her and the rest of the student council from going anywhere near him, which they were all more than happy to consent to. All except her of course. While the stories she may have heard from her King the rest of the peerage may have been true, or a little farfetched on her part, she was still curious to know who, exactly, Issei Hyoudou was. Sona may have been the one to save her life but she never was one to always follow orders. In fact, she almost hated the way her King was always authoritative most of the time. She may have only been looking out for their safety, but Tsubasa always knew what situations she should and shouldn't approach and she had never been wrong before. Call it a lucky stroke of insight she's had ever since she was a child. Just because she was a bit of a rebel didn't mean that she couldn't be smart when it came to these types of situations. Not to mention that she had always loved to go against people that told her what to do. That much was clear from all the trouble she got in with her parents even though they still loved her dearly, along with the tight leash Sona tended to keep on her at all times. Only now after recent events had that leash seemed to tighten ten-fold as both the Student Council and the Occult Research Club were put into a state of emergency. To think that the new kid in school wasn't just a freak of nature but also powerful enough to not only kill that narcissistic asshole, Riser Phenex, but to also critically injure one of the great Devil Kings, who just so happened to also be the older brother of Rias Gremory, Sirzechs Lucifer. Honestly, if it had been anyone else besides Sona who had given her this information she would've laughed straight in their face, called them an idiot, and walk away without so much as a second glance.

Though she knew that her King was _never_ one to lie or spin some tall tale – she would rather cut off her own left hand than be known as a liar, family pride and all that bullshit – she couldn't help but be rather skeptical of the whole scenario. And what normal person wouldn't? Some random teen that pops out of nowhere and turns into some freaky demon thing that murders at least ten High-Class Devils while also injuring a Devil King out of blind rage then just disappearing off the face of the Eart- Er, Underworld? Nope, definitely doesn't sound insane at all. What was even more bizarre was the fact that apparently the amount of power Hyoudou was leaking was so intense that both the Angels _and _the Fallen Angels had to step in a put a stop to him. Not much information was known after that except for the rumor that both Angel factions had a supposed hand in Hyoudou's disappearance and were keeping him locked up somewhere. No one in the Devil faction had been on scene to confirm or deny the rumor since most of the Underworld had been busy dealing with the horrendous backlash in the aftermath of the Phenex Estate.

Though even after everything she had heard, Tsubasa still couldn't help but feel skeptical. She was more of a "See it to believe it" kind of person, after all.

"I'm home!"

Tsubasa had taken a quick moment to let a sigh of relief escape through her lips as she slipped off her school shoes and stretched out her feet in an attempt to relieve all of the built up stress she had gained during the day before making her way towards the living room. The air conditioner that was currently blowing a fresh, cool breeze of air did wonders for her skin as she walked through the empty hallway. It had been another day in the high eighty degree weather and she wanted nothing more than to just drown herself in a batch of cool water before heading upstairs and throwing herself against the cool sheets of her bed. Honestly, why her slave driver of a King couldn't just give her one or two days off a week from the endless amounts of paperwork, she'll never know.

"Welcome home, sweetie!" She walked into the kitchen and saw the lithe form of her mother, Tsukiko, who was currently cooking some type of meat on the stove with a tray of assorted diced vegetables off to the side. She was a middle-aged, yet graceful woman who still looked as though she were in her mid-thirties despite being forty-three years-old. She was currently clad in a pair of fit, blue denim jeans and a black blouse along with a simple pearl necklace. Despite having a few wrinkles here and there as evidence of her age, her skin still held a clear and overall smooth surface. Although she was currently occupied with making food, she turned her head and gave Tsubasa a warm smile that was the epitome of motherly. Like her daughter, her hair was also a dark shade of blue that was pulled back and braided into a ponytail that hanged off of her left shoulder. She was also just about the same height as her daughter, and would have been mistaken as her older sister in any other situation. The only difference between the two were their eye color with Tsubasa's being a dark grey and Tsukiko's being brown.

"Hey, Mom," Tsubasa said along with a wave of her hand as she made her way towards the fridge and opened it to retrieve a bottle of water, which she happily gulped down about halfway before taking breath of fresh air and twisting the cap back on. "Dad not home yet?" she asked as she took a quick glance around the living room that was connected right next to the kitchen.

"He had a few more things to finish up with at work, so he won't be home until dinner's ready," her mother replied as she gave the meat she was frying in the pan a quick spin with a nearby spoon before letting it settle once again. She let out a tired sigh before turning her attention towards the diced vegetables. "Though I do wish that your father's boss would let him have more time off. He's been so swamped with work lately that he's had to stay in a few extra hours every week just so he get it all done. And the fact that he has to do most of it from the office isn't helping him at all either. Sooner or later he'll be too tired to even eat when he comes home."

"Tell me about it," Tsubasa grumbled as he took another swig of her water. "Sona has been driving me up the fuckin' wall with all the damn paperwork-OW!"

"Young lady, what have I told you about swearing?" her mother asked with a stern glare as she held the spoon she had been using earlier in her right hand while her other was clasped on her hip in the typical scolding fashion.

"Jeez, Mom, cut it out! I'm not a kid anymore! I'm seventeen and I'm pretty sure that I at least deserve to say a couple of stupid curse words!" she said with combination of a growl and a whine as she rubbed the spot where the spoon had hit her.

"As long as you're living in this house there is no way I am letting utter a single one of those words when I'm round," her mother gave her one last glare before pinching the bridge of her nose and turning her attention back towards the food. "I swear you're becoming more like your father every day. And I'm not sure that's a good thing."

"Yeah but you're the one who fell in love with him because of that in the first place." Tsubasa retorted with a smirk that only earned her another stern glare from her mother.

"I fell in love with Daichi because he knew how to always be a gentleman, even around people he despised. Not because he swore like some drunken sailor."

Tsubasa simply chose ignored her mother's words as she unscrewed the cap off her water bottle.

"Tch, whatever. We both know that you secretly love it when he's all 'rough-and-tough'." She said as she took a last sip from her water.

Seeing as how nothing was getting through to her daughter, Tsukiko decided to have a little fun, eliciting a smirk to sneak up on her lips.

Why, of course I do. How do you thing you were born in the first place?"

_*PFFFFFT*_

"*Hack* *Hack* W-What the hell, Mom?! Are you trying to kill me or something?!" Tsubasa yelled with a bright red face as she ran over to the sink to cough up the rest of her water. Her mother, however, continued to cook the food with an innocent smile on her face as if nothing was wrong.

"Why, of course not, dear~ Whatever gave you that suggestion? I was simply reminiscing about my youth and how happy your father and I were back then. In fact, I remember this one time after he brought me home late at night after a movie he made me _so_ happy that I couldn't help but let my own string of curses slip through my-"

"GAGH, ALRIGHT I GET IT! JUST STOP BEFORE YOU MAKE MY EARS BLEED!" Tsubasa all but screeched at her mother as her face turned green in horror and disgust before making a beeline straight for her room on the second floor and slamming the door shut. Her mother let out a heart filled laugh before focusing once more on the food.

"Fucking hell, out of all the things I had to hear one of them did _not_ need to be about that woman's sex life."

Still sickened by the _unnecessary_ information she had gotten from her mother along with the growing fatigue from today, Tsubasa wasted no time in taking off her socks before throwing herself onto the cool sheets of her bed. If she could manage it without any explosive jolt of pain, she would have thanked God for the divine gift of artificially cool air. Even though the weather had been as hot as hell – no pun intended – she had been lucky enough not to work up a sweat as she was way too tired to even take a shower. Seriously, damn Sona to the lowest pits of hell – or in her case, to the highest plains of heaven – for making her and rest of the Student Council work themselves to death like pack mules. If it wasn't for the fact that joining her peerage meant being practically forced to join the Student Council than maybe she would have the actual energy to do more things that were fun and enjoyable rather than dull and depressing.

'_And to think that I had JUST gotten back from a vacation too,' _she said with a mental sigh as she flipped herself onto her side while gazing out of the nearby window._ 'I just can't seem to ever catch a fucking break. And now thanks to that Hyoudou kid, Sona's going to be going full-on dictator on our asses and I'll NEVER get any more time to myself. Seriously, thanks a lot, asshole.' _

Thinking once again about Hyoudou had gotten her train of thought to come to a halt. He was a complete mystery to her and pretty much every Devil residing within Kuoh, though with the latter it wasn't in a good way. Sure, she also thought of him as sort of a dangerous victim when he first come to the school. She had also felt the essence of his hidden power when she had walked by him in the halls one day, and to say that it frightened her a bit would have been an understatement. In fact, it had actually sort of terrified her in the beginning. What she had felt was something she had never encountered before in her life. Even though it had felt dangerous, it had also been seemingly calm and restrained, like a beast that was sleeping in its cage. And while she wasn't nearly as skilled as sensing different auras in people like Sona or Tsubaki, she had been experienced enough to also sense the slightest bit of something different. While it wasn't dark or menacing like his outer aura, it wasn't exactly harmless either. In fact, it felt bestial in nature, and held the faintest tint of red to it. No, not red. More like crimson. Crimson like blood.

She groaned in frustration as she buried her head under her pillow. No matter how hard or how many times she thought about it, it all led back to the same conclusion: whatever was going on behind the scenes of her and her classmates' not-so-normal daily lives all centered around Issei Hyoudou; and one way or another they were going to find out just what it was whether it was good or bad and whether they liked it or not. And despite the trepidation that was growing in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help but also feel a sense of excitement start to burrow it's way in there as well.

The future certainly looked interesting, indeed.

* * *

Tsubasa stifled a yawn as she made her way into the main school building, her book bag slung lazily over her right shoulder as she did her best to rub the fatigue out of her eyes with her left hand. Again, damn Sona to the lowest pits of hell _and_ to the highest plains of heaven for overworking her to near death. If spending countless hours doing endless amounts of paperwork while barely getting enough time to get her own homework done wasn't hard enough, the fact that she had to wake up about an hour earlier than everyone else just to make sure that all of yesterday's work had been completed while _also_ going over the roster for today's work that needed to be completed was just an extra kick in the nonexistent balls for her. She was at least thankful that she had been expecting this after going through it so many times during the last two years. The first time it happened did not end well for her as she ended sleeping through the entirety of the meeting while also being at least ten minutes late to class; it had gotten her quiet the harsh lecture from both Sona and Tsubaki as well as being the one responsible for finishing up all just about all of the forms that hadn't already been filled out, which turned out to be _a lot_.

'_Seriously, who the hell gets up at _six-in-the-fucking-morning _just to fill out a bunch of papers? Was Sona born with a pencil in her hand or is she just that strict?' _she thought with an internal growl while making her way up to the second floor. The hallways were all quiet as a graveyard – which Tsubasa had personally preferred by the way – as her lone footsteps echoed throughout the locker and window-mounted walls. It took her about another three minutes before she reached a set of plain white double doors that lead into the Student Council office. With a tired sigh she pushed the pin down and pulled the right door open before lazily making her way inside, the door shutting behind her a second later with an audible _clicking_ sound.

The Student Council room was everything people would, and at the same time _wouldn't_ expect it to be. Instead of a common unused classroom with plastic tables and chairs that most schools were accustomed to using in the past, the Kuoh Academy Student Council room was what one would expect to belong to a company CEO or some Head of a successful corporation. Dark, pristine carpeting draped the entire floor of the room and was covered by a large oval-shaped table that occupied the middle of the room made out of the finest wood that didn't hold even the slightest of scratches or dents, it edges also covered with rich leather that held no rips or tears. Surrounding the large table were about twelve seats in all; all just about as pristine as the table itself. Though the room was prestigious in its entirety, the most focalized point of room was the massive chandelier that was currently hanging about six feet above the table. The dimmed lights behind the glass radiated its teardrop-shaped visage quite well, almost making it appear being made entirely out of diamonds. Clusters of even smaller teardrops that were chained together hung off its sides and aided in furthering reflecting the light all around the room.

All in all, the entire room was made for royalty.

Tsubasa, however, saw it pretty much as overkill, especially for a place as common as a school. _'Jeez Sona, what's next? A pool? A mini-bar? Why not just make the entire school into a hotel while you're at it?' _

Choosing to ignore the decorum, Tsubasa instead focused her attention onto the table where the rest of the Student Council had situated themselves. Like always, Sona was seated at the front filling out various forms and other paperwork with Tsubaki placed to her right while Reya was seated on her left, reading what looked like her fifth book this week. _Seriously, how many of those does she go through?_ She thought as she witnessed the ever so cheerful Tomoe chatting Reya's ear off with random topics while the latter simply smiled and nodded every so often while not once taking her eyes off her book. Tsubasa suppressed a smile as she saw the peerage's lone male member, Saji, get smothered with help on his homework from both Momo and Ruruka who would glare at each other every few seconds before all their attention went straight back to Saji. It was honestly no surprise to the rest of the Council, or the school for that matter, that both of them had a massive crush on the blonde and would constantly compete with each other for his affections. Though Saji, the dimwit that he was, remained completely unaware of their constant heated battles with each other. Honestly, why he even bothered trying to win Sona's ice cold heart when he already had two cute girls hovering over his shoulders was beyond her. Compared to Sona, he might as well be trying to melt the entirety of Antarctica with just a candle. Tsubasa didn't think there would ever be anyone in all of Earth, Heaven, or Hell that could get that girl out of her workaholic funk.

"Tsubasa, you've barely arrived just on time." Sona's ever stern voice brought Tsubasa out of her thoughts, the former never even looked up from her work to as she greeted her Rook. "Please make sure that you get a start on your daily duties as soon as you enter instead of idly standing there in the middle of the room. We have requests from both the Tennis club and Track and Field to increase their funding as well as Botany for a new shipment of seeds. I suggest you get started right away, that is unless you want to miss first period, no?" Not even waiting for a response, the stoic president resumed with her own work. Not once did she notice the crease in her Rook's eyebrows or the way she slightly gritted her teeth.

She also didn't notice, or pointedly ignored the burning glare that Tsubasa also sent her way.

_And a fine 'Good Morning' to you too, Sona. Fucking bitch._ As much as she wanted to say it, Tsubasa couldn't afford getting in trouble with her parents against and therefore settled on a simple "Right away, _Kaichou_", putting slight emphasis on the "Kaichou" before taking a seat at the end of the table directly across from Sona. She sent a brief nod towards Tomoe, who had greeted her with her daily "Morning Tsuba-chan!" before getting started on whatever daily paperwork Sona had assigned her.

She could've sworn that Sona did this to her on purpose just for the fact that she rebelled against her stuck up attitude from time to time. It wasn't her fault that she needed a break every once in a while from the literal avalanche of work that she piled on top of her along with the endless training exercises that left her gasping for oxygen nearly every week. She was a high school student for fuck's sake, not some damn Harvard professor or war veteran. Sure, Sona always strived for perfection in literally _every_ aspect of her life but that didn't mean that she had to run the rest of them into the ground! She couldn't for the life of her figure out how Tomoe always had enough energy to keep up that cheerful attitude of hers while she didn't enough to even get out of bed in the morning. It was absolute hell, both figuratively and literally.

_Sometimes I wish she'd just let me die._ A darker part of her mind thought to itself as Tsubasa excused herself to use the restroom, earning her yet another stern look from Sona just as she walked out the door. It wasn't her fault she couldn't control her anatomy, dammit! Why couldn't she just get _off her ass _already?

She sighed in frustration as she walked through the empty halls. _Sometimes I really hate my life. And the fact that I have a _literal_ Devil as my master and student council president just makes it worse. _

"Damn that _fucking _bitch to hell! Or heaven! Or _wherever _it is that Devils consider hell!" Tsubasa all but screamed into the air as she kicked a nearby rock into the street while angrily stomping her way home. The entire day had been pretty much been a disaster. First was the fact that she wasn't able to get all of her morning assignments done, forcing her to miss half of her first class. Then she had noticed that she had forgot to bring her homemade lunch because she was in such a rush to get out of the house this morning. _Then _there was the fact that she had also forgotten money so she couldn't even _buy_ her own lunch, forcing her to starve her way throughout the rest of the day. And finally to top it off, she had failed her Biology exam that she barely got any time to study for thanks to the mountains of other work Sona had given her. So on top of whatever other work Sona was bound to give her, she also had to find time to study for her make-ups she was _thankfully_ allowed to take the following week.

Now Tsubasa _really _wished she had just let her die that day.

"If it's not one thing with that stuck up, ice cold bitch it's another! First paperwork, then training, followed by _more_ paperwork, followed by school, _on top of more __**fucking**__ paperwork_! I swear if she hands me just _one more _piece of paper I'm gonna wring her tiny fucking neck till it snaps like a fucking twig!" she was so angry she could barely see straight. At least with the sun going down there wasn't anyone on the streets to hear her screaming fits of rage. For that she was at least thankful. Just because she was angry doesn't mean she wants the entire neighborhood thinking she was a lunatic.

In fact she was so angry that she didn't even notice taking a wrong turn into a nearby playground. She also didn't notice the entire area seemed to be strangely quiet as her bouts of anger were the only sounds that could be heard. Even the chirping from the nearby birds and crickets were absent.

"Stupid flat chested _bitch._ She better pray that I'm in a better mood the next time I see her-"

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A heathen out for an evening stroll? And such a noisy one too."

Tsubasa narrowed her eyes as she dropped her school bag and positioned herself into a fighting stance as she spotted a dark figure emerging from a foliage of trees that were near the swings. Her enhanced demonic vision was able to make out an average sized man wearing what looked like a trench coat along with a set of black slacks, leather shoes, and a bowler hat of all things resting on top of his head. In any other situation, she would've pegged the guy for some kind of stalker or child molester were it not for the glowing sword made of light in his right hand along with the crucifix that was hanging from his neck. An Exorcist. Great. Just her luck. As if she didn't have enough problems already.

"Look, asshole, I'm in a _really_ bad mood right now and I really don't feel like messing up your face as much as it already is. So why don't you just crawl back to whatever hole you came out of and leave me the _hell _alone."

"Oh my, such a feisty little snake you are. If it wasn't for the fact that I already relieved myself on some nameless little whore a while ago I would've _definitely _enjoyed making you squirm. In more ways than one I might add." The perverted grin he gave her along with licking his lips almost made her stomach jump out of her mouth. So he was actually a Stray Exorcist. Fan-_fucking_-tastic. These guys were actually a lot worse to deal with besides normal Exorcists. At least they simply killed you and were done with. However it was these pigs that were the real nuisance. Always having a bad habit of either raping or molesting their female victims before killing them in the most painful way possible. She _really _didn't want to get held up by one of these freaks.

And the fact that he just openly admitted to raping some poor woman with a smile on his face didn't help at all.

Though it was that comment alone that got her blood even more boiling than it was before. "Alright, shitstick, you wanna squirm? Then I'll make you _squeal _like the little fucking pig that you are." She didn't give the Exorcist a chance to reply before she shot herself forward like a fired bullet and delivered a swift sucker punch straight at the man's jaw, sending him flying in the opposite direction and directly into one of the nearby trees. The result was a loud _'crack'_ that echoed throughout the entire area as the tree that the Exorcist impacted on was horizontally split in two before toppling over.

"I'm sorry, what was that?!" she yelled in a mocking manner. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of you getting your ass handed to you! Come on! Is that seriously all you got, you little Jesus freak?!" she pointedly ignored the sharp pain in her head at the mention of the Messiah's name.

However, before she could continue her spree of taunts she widened her eyes and quickly summersaulted to the left, narrowly missing a dagger made of light that was an inch away from piercing her in the head.

"On the contrary, my dear," her eyes widened even further as the Exorcist came into view, looking none the worse for wear as he tilted his head to the side with a small _'snap'_. His crazed grin never once leaving his face. "I haven't even gotten started!" and just like Tsubasa had done, he shot forward with incredible speed, sword held high.

Tsubasa quickly got to her feet and pivoted to the right, just barely avoiding the glowing sword as it hit the ground. She tried to aim an uppercut towards the man's head but was quickly intercepted as he blocked the oncoming fist with his arm before letting go of the sword and punching her in stomach with the other. The impact caused her to skid away a few feet before she coughed up a bit of blood. She didn't even have time to take in a breath before she was quickly kneed in the face, pain shooting through her nose as it emanated a loud _'cracking'_ sound before she was sent flying into one of the metal poles of the nearby swings. Blood seeped out of her nose and her spine felt like it was on fire. She was in so much pain that she couldn't even manage to muster the strength to stand. All she could do was lay on the ground and hold her nose in agony.

A series of maniacal giggling echoed throughout the silent playground as Tsubasa looked up and saw the Exorcist slowly advancing on her position with his sword in hand. His grin threatened to split his face as he slowly inched closer. "Good girl. On the ground just where you belong. I've gotta say, that little warm up's gotten me all frisky. You won't mind if I _relieve _some stress on you, now would you little Devil girl?" To her horror and disgust, the man crouched over her fallen form before slowly reaching for his pant zipper under his jacket. He was so close that she could practically feel his hot breath over her face. Its bloody stench almost made her hurl. "Oh I can't _wait_ to rip those clothes off that sexy body of yours. I'm gonna rip 'em off, play with you, _fuck_ you till your seeing stars, and then I'm going to rip you limb from limb into tiny little-ARGH!"

The rapist was suddenly silenced as a large steel blade was suddenly sent through his entire head and stopped a short inch away from Tsubasa's eye, blood completely coating her face and upper torso. Before she even had a chance to fathom what had happened, the man was suddenly picked up by his head, blade still inserted, before being tossed away and pinned onto a nearby tree branch. The sudden, yet casual display of brutality, coupled with the fact that her eye was almost stabbed, was enough for Tsubasa to freeze in place, her eyes widening to the size of plates.

"Tch, really? Are these guys so fucking pathetic that they'll stoop so low as to raping random women off the streets? Guess all those jokes about catholic priests weren't far off the mark. Why the hell Azazel even works with these guys I'll never know. And nor do I think I want to."

The sudden gruff voice brought Tsubasa out of her stupor as she slowly turned her head towards the source, only to once again freeze in utter shock as she saw the recent transfer student_, _Issei Hyoudou, standing only a foot away from her wearing a black hoodie along with jeans, a pair of black sneakers, and a beanie that that covered the majority of his head.

However it was the fact that his entire right arm was a giant red and black blade that made her stomach nearly drop in fear. The glare that he was currently giving her didn't really help all that much either.

"Great, another Devil bitch? Just the icing I need to add to the shit cake I've been given. Here I am, hoping for a quiet and peaceful stroll in my own damn neighborhood, when out of the blue I see a rapist and _bishounen _of all things going at it like a couple of horny rabbits." Before Tsubasa had a chance to respond, she was further shocked to her core when the blade suddenly started to _swirl_ in a mass of red and black tentacles before it was soon replace by a normal human arm. "So tell me, _blue hair_, did that bimbo redhead Rias Gremory send you or was it that stuck-on-her-high-horse Shitori?

That was it. Coupled with the intense pain and exhaustion she was feeling along with the shocking realization that _Issei Hyoudou_ of all people saved her life with his entire arm transformed in a giant blade of some kind was last tiny push her body needed before she fell onto the ground into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw and felt was Issei Hyoudou's arms quickly encircling themselves around her waist, effectively stopping her from falling.

"And of course she just _has _to fall asleep." Issei grumbled before he hoisted the girl's body up from the ground and held her bridal style. "Just fucking perfect. Not only do I _not _know where this chick lives but also the fact that she's a goddamn _Devil _of all things. No doubt whoever owns her will be here to take her back soon." His scowl only deepened at the thought, but it soon loosened up as he gazed at the girl's bloody face. _Despite the bloody mess she's actually kinda cute. Definitely not as busty as Gremory but still cute, nonetheless. _He then shook his head at the stray thoughts. _Where the hell did that come from? _Not taking any time to ponder, he hoisted the girl onto his shoulder before the sun marking on his left hand lit up. Both he and Tsubasa disappeared in a flash of light. The only evidence of them being there were the split tree, the droplets of blood near the swings, and the corpse that was impaled on the nearby tree branch.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys. Once again, sorry for the long ass update, which I know is a complete understatement. Let's just say that I've been having my hands full with College, my new job, and a shit ton of laziness. I'm sure some of you can understand. **


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